I agree with those who have talked about this being about giving in to social pressure. It strikes me that the point is that, like in "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)," going steady can't be real love. Not because of long term commitment being incompatible with love (it is indispensible, in fact), but because this is a fundamentally selfish thing that the man has done in the song. He has been drawn to (false) love because he's finally found the limits of single life via his friends (who have presumably settled down themselves). Problem is, he is trying to have all the self-indulgence of single life with all the benefits of going steady. And he has done it all at society's prodding. Thus, he will always "feel as though [he] tripped and fell" because he has desires that cannot be fulfilled, but he makes it his only purpose to fulfill them, even when his very "blood is depleted to the point of stable glue" (great imagery!).
In the end, the "protagonist" is not such a bad guy: he is just as selfish as anyone else. He has tried to do his agreed upon part in society (which is justice, if anything), but has made the mistake of not examining the hollowness of what society is trying to sell him. He is not, and will not, be happy, but he deceives himself into thinking he is and ends by "send[ing] it to the crowd that's gathered round." That is, he is passing on the same lie that society first told him, and which has by now eaten away at his very life.
I agree with those who have talked about this being about giving in to social pressure. It strikes me that the point is that, like in "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)," going steady can't be real love. Not because of long term commitment being incompatible with love (it is indispensible, in fact), but because this is a fundamentally selfish thing that the man has done in the song. He has been drawn to (false) love because he's finally found the limits of single life via his friends (who have presumably settled down themselves). Problem is, he is trying to have all the self-indulgence of single life with all the benefits of going steady. And he has done it all at society's prodding. Thus, he will always "feel as though [he] tripped and fell" because he has desires that cannot be fulfilled, but he makes it his only purpose to fulfill them, even when his very "blood is depleted to the point of stable glue" (great imagery!).
In the end, the "protagonist" is not such a bad guy: he is just as selfish as anyone else. He has tried to do his agreed upon part in society (which is justice, if anything), but has made the mistake of not examining the hollowness of what society is trying to sell him. He is not, and will not, be happy, but he deceives himself into thinking he is and ends by "send[ing] it to the crowd that's gathered round." That is, he is passing on the same lie that society first told him, and which has by now eaten away at his very life.