This song in my opinion is about love that cannot be fully realized due to racism or some other form of discrimination (classism etc.). The lines that really stand out to me are "you're the fastest runner, but you're not allowed to win" and "you can feel the punishment but you can't commit the sin." In the first, it's suggesting that no matter how good a partner you may be, the rules are set against you and it's impossible to change this. The only circumstances that are unchangeable are those which are intrinsic to a person (e.g., race). In the second line, he's saying that he's suffering but never did (or would want to do) anything that would actually cause him to deserve said punishment (e.g., harming his lover). The line that says "the insecurity is the thing that won't get lost" is very telling, because when you come up against something that you cannot change despite your best efforts, and it's something that you REALLY want to change (i.e., so that you can be together with your lover), you become very insecure. You feel like your best isn't good enough (an undercurrent that runs through the whole song) and you feel helpless. And learned helplessness is one of the leading cognitive psychological hypotheses for the basis of depression.
Other lines are telling as well, especially the chorus ("and you want her, and she wants you") and the ones that say "doctor says you're cured, but you still feel the pain; aspirations in the clouds, but your hopes go down the drain."
mine is, take love out of the song, it describes my life for the past 25 years....I looked at the menu so many times and always do, but can never order,
i feel the cushion, but never could have a seat
i've dipped my foot in so many pools, but never was allowed to swim...
i've always been in many occasions the fastest runner (figuratively) but never was allowed to win
truly, still my aspirations in the clouds but, alas at the end hopes go down the drain
mine is, take love out of the song, it describes my life for the past 25 years....I looked at the menu so many times and always do, but can never order,
i feel the cushion, but never could have a seat
i've dipped my foot in so many pools, but never was allowed to swim...
i've always been in many occasions the fastest runner (figuratively) but never was allowed to win
truly, still my aspirations in the clouds but, alas at the end hopes go down the drain
This song in my opinion is about love that cannot be fully realized due to racism or some other form of discrimination (classism etc.). The lines that really stand out to me are "you're the fastest runner, but you're not allowed to win" and "you can feel the punishment but you can't commit the sin." In the first, it's suggesting that no matter how good a partner you may be, the rules are set against you and it's impossible to change this. The only circumstances that are unchangeable are those which are intrinsic to a person (e.g., race). In the second line, he's saying that he's suffering but never did (or would want to do) anything that would actually cause him to deserve said punishment (e.g., harming his lover). The line that says "the insecurity is the thing that won't get lost" is very telling, because when you come up against something that you cannot change despite your best efforts, and it's something that you REALLY want to change (i.e., so that you can be together with your lover), you become very insecure. You feel like your best isn't good enough (an undercurrent that runs through the whole song) and you feel helpless. And learned helplessness is one of the leading cognitive psychological hypotheses for the basis of depression.
Other lines are telling as well, especially the chorus ("and you want her, and she wants you") and the ones that say "doctor says you're cured, but you still feel the pain; aspirations in the clouds, but your hopes go down the drain."
mine is, take love out of the song, it describes my life for the past 25 years....I looked at the menu so many times and always do, but can never order, i feel the cushion, but never could have a seat i've dipped my foot in so many pools, but never was allowed to swim... i've always been in many occasions the fastest runner (figuratively) but never was allowed to win truly, still my aspirations in the clouds but, alas at the end hopes go down the drain
mine is, take love out of the song, it describes my life for the past 25 years....I looked at the menu so many times and always do, but can never order, i feel the cushion, but never could have a seat i've dipped my foot in so many pools, but never was allowed to swim... i've always been in many occasions the fastest runner (figuratively) but never was allowed to win truly, still my aspirations in the clouds but, alas at the end hopes go down the drain