The song cannot be interpreted too specifically. It appears that the author of the song has left the metaphors broad in order to be seen differently through different eyes. What is central to the meaning and interpretation of the song is the garden imagery.
There are little clues here and there that give meaning to the garden imagery. First, gardens are usually peaceful places, but in this garden the author "senses" a runner. Notice that he doesn't "see" a runner, but only senses a runner. This connotates a kind of paranoia in the author's psyche as if there is some ghosts following him throughout his life. From the first verse we also note that the author has not had good judgment throughout his life with the steamboat example at the forefront. Notice also in the first stanza that neither of the two images belong where they are. Gardens are generally peaceful places, but there is a runner disturbing the peace and a meadow is not generally a place where a steamboat would be built. Thing seem to be out of place in the author's life.
I like the idea of the runner, the spy and the leak all being internal struggles that the author manifests in his everyday life.
I would say the rest of the song is up to each individual to decide. For me personally, the song is a song of return. While the garden has its share of death and destruction, the author has now returned to the garden, despite the death and destruction, to dance. A complete reversal of what he had previously used it for. He is, in a sense, born again.
The song cannot be interpreted too specifically. It appears that the author of the song has left the metaphors broad in order to be seen differently through different eyes. What is central to the meaning and interpretation of the song is the garden imagery.
There are little clues here and there that give meaning to the garden imagery. First, gardens are usually peaceful places, but in this garden the author "senses" a runner. Notice that he doesn't "see" a runner, but only senses a runner. This connotates a kind of paranoia in the author's psyche as if there is some ghosts following him throughout his life. From the first verse we also note that the author has not had good judgment throughout his life with the steamboat example at the forefront. Notice also in the first stanza that neither of the two images belong where they are. Gardens are generally peaceful places, but there is a runner disturbing the peace and a meadow is not generally a place where a steamboat would be built. Thing seem to be out of place in the author's life.
I like the idea of the runner, the spy and the leak all being internal struggles that the author manifests in his everyday life.
I would say the rest of the song is up to each individual to decide. For me personally, the song is a song of return. While the garden has its share of death and destruction, the author has now returned to the garden, despite the death and destruction, to dance. A complete reversal of what he had previously used it for. He is, in a sense, born again.