In my opinion, the first two stanzas set up the plot of the song. The third stanza is where metaphors begin. Cinderella is "leading lady" of the plot, who is going to die (I read about this song being about his mom and dad), and she's giving up (looking for a nightgown), and the devil (in his mom's case, cancer) is going to make it happen. The singer pins all his hopes on a last chance (got my money on a pawn tonight). Another thing I think is that the "boy" in the beginning and in the fourth stanza (he) are the same person as the singer. He changed his life and tried to live it out to the fullest, also to try to help his loved one. But even though he tried, and God gives the hope of heaven and the hope of a miracle, he doesn't know what will happen and is afraid. The next stanza is about the killer progressing and options (drawbridges) closing. Then afterwards, he knows there is nothing he can do and gives up to a place where everything is so literal, no hope, no comfort, just bleak fact; that good girls die. However, the last stanza says he still wants her to stay alive, even though the killer is attacking, but everyone still needs her. I don't really know if everyone agrees, but I think the last four lines basically say that is she still determined to live personally, or did she depend on the boy met in 1961?
In my opinion, the first two stanzas set up the plot of the song. The third stanza is where metaphors begin. Cinderella is "leading lady" of the plot, who is going to die (I read about this song being about his mom and dad), and she's giving up (looking for a nightgown), and the devil (in his mom's case, cancer) is going to make it happen. The singer pins all his hopes on a last chance (got my money on a pawn tonight). Another thing I think is that the "boy" in the beginning and in the fourth stanza (he) are the same person as the singer. He changed his life and tried to live it out to the fullest, also to try to help his loved one. But even though he tried, and God gives the hope of heaven and the hope of a miracle, he doesn't know what will happen and is afraid. The next stanza is about the killer progressing and options (drawbridges) closing. Then afterwards, he knows there is nothing he can do and gives up to a place where everything is so literal, no hope, no comfort, just bleak fact; that good girls die. However, the last stanza says he still wants her to stay alive, even though the killer is attacking, but everyone still needs her. I don't really know if everyone agrees, but I think the last four lines basically say that is she still determined to live personally, or did she depend on the boy met in 1961?