This song is about naive preconceptions of love being mystical and blissful. He has felt burdens of love and is past the stage of infatuate desire for the perfect love story, taking a forlorn standpoint toward life always having it's complications. Then he falls in love with the innocence of a girl who's euphoric enthusiasm for intimacy moves him. Although he recognizes that he taints her pure notion of love, he has fallen for her and has no choice but to unintentionally bring her down to earth:
for the love, Iʼd fallen on
in the swampy August dawn
what a mischief you would bring young darling!
when the onus is not all your own
when you're up for it before you've grown
[His perception of love and life was all a 'swamp', formless and murky. He needed restoration and stumbled upon her untainted love. Her presence in his life would only cause disorder in hers, but she is enthusiastic about finding love. She feels obligated to mend his heart, even though its not her responsibility. The drawback is she doesn't have the wisdom or experience that he has, and he fears he will ruin her blissful attitude toward love. She is innocent and eager to live a fairy tale.]
from the faun forever gone
in the towers of your honeycomb
I'd a tore your hair out just to climb back darling
[Inevitably, the love only brought her down, blighting her enthusiasm and innocence. The "towers of your honeycomb" represent the sweet natural framework of her dreams, her ideal love story. Like chumpstuff said, the 'tore your hair out' line is referring to the fairy tale Repunzel: He fell in love with her mystic innocence, so much that he would go along with it, almost beginning to believe in the mystique of it all.]
when you're filling out your only form
can you tell that itʼs just ceremon
now you've added up to what you're from
[I believe that her 'only form' that is 'just ceremon' refers to the ideal view of wedding vows being permanent, and it's custom never to be followed by a divorce form. She wants him to be her one and only. But over time she realizes that real love comes with pain, confusion, and burdens. She's 'added up' all her new found experiences to realize she is human, not a whimsical character in a love story.]
build your tether rain-out from your fragments
break the sailors table on your sacrum
fuck the fiercest fables, I'm with Hagen
[I'm going along with chumpstuff's cross reference from sacrum to sacral chakra being the balance of our emotions. Therefore, I understand these lines portraying the falling to pieces of her innocent and peaceful veneer, accepting the cascading of her idealistic views to acknowledge the real world, that love comes with a range of emotions that need to be balanced. I love how the rhythm changes here, implying the change in her attitude.]
for the love, comes the burning young
from the liver, sweating through your tongue
[He notes in the first line here that youth are so enthusiastic to find love, but fire only lasts until the fuel is out. 'From the liver sweating through your tongue' means that her words are no longer coming from her heart, but they are digested and filtered (the livers function is to filter, aid digeststion, and maintain equilibrium in the body; it is equally as important as the human heart). To me this remarks that in order to maintain a relationship, one cannot always speak from their heart, but filter their feelings so neither partner is hurt.]
well, youʼre standing on my sternum dont you climb down darling
oh the sermons are the first to rest
smoke on Sundays when youʼre drunk and dressed
out the hollows where the swallow nests
[The sternum protects the heart and lungs, therefore he is professing that she has control over his heart and life. He's fully in love, and he can't let her go. All of her innocent perceptions and fairy tales ('sermons') died fast, and she sinks into the state of reality that he was in when she found him. The last line is important to restoring contentment to the song. Swallows are symbolic of hope, new love, and happiness, and the 'hollows' represent the depths of her soul. Therefore, he is saying that hope and happiness continue to 'nest' or regenerate within her soul.]
This song is about naive preconceptions of love being mystical and blissful. He has felt burdens of love and is past the stage of infatuate desire for the perfect love story, taking a forlorn standpoint toward life always having it's complications. Then he falls in love with the innocence of a girl who's euphoric enthusiasm for intimacy moves him. Although he recognizes that he taints her pure notion of love, he has fallen for her and has no choice but to unintentionally bring her down to earth:
for the love, Iʼd fallen on in the swampy August dawn what a mischief you would bring young darling! when the onus is not all your own when you're up for it before you've grown
[His perception of love and life was all a 'swamp', formless and murky. He needed restoration and stumbled upon her untainted love. Her presence in his life would only cause disorder in hers, but she is enthusiastic about finding love. She feels obligated to mend his heart, even though its not her responsibility. The drawback is she doesn't have the wisdom or experience that he has, and he fears he will ruin her blissful attitude toward love. She is innocent and eager to live a fairy tale.]
from the faun forever gone in the towers of your honeycomb I'd a tore your hair out just to climb back darling
[Inevitably, the love only brought her down, blighting her enthusiasm and innocence. The "towers of your honeycomb" represent the sweet natural framework of her dreams, her ideal love story. Like chumpstuff said, the 'tore your hair out' line is referring to the fairy tale Repunzel: He fell in love with her mystic innocence, so much that he would go along with it, almost beginning to believe in the mystique of it all.]
when you're filling out your only form can you tell that itʼs just ceremon now you've added up to what you're from
[I believe that her 'only form' that is 'just ceremon' refers to the ideal view of wedding vows being permanent, and it's custom never to be followed by a divorce form. She wants him to be her one and only. But over time she realizes that real love comes with pain, confusion, and burdens. She's 'added up' all her new found experiences to realize she is human, not a whimsical character in a love story.]
build your tether rain-out from your fragments break the sailors table on your sacrum fuck the fiercest fables, I'm with Hagen
[I'm going along with chumpstuff's cross reference from sacrum to sacral chakra being the balance of our emotions. Therefore, I understand these lines portraying the falling to pieces of her innocent and peaceful veneer, accepting the cascading of her idealistic views to acknowledge the real world, that love comes with a range of emotions that need to be balanced. I love how the rhythm changes here, implying the change in her attitude.]
for the love, comes the burning young from the liver, sweating through your tongue
[He notes in the first line here that youth are so enthusiastic to find love, but fire only lasts until the fuel is out. 'From the liver sweating through your tongue' means that her words are no longer coming from her heart, but they are digested and filtered (the livers function is to filter, aid digeststion, and maintain equilibrium in the body; it is equally as important as the human heart). To me this remarks that in order to maintain a relationship, one cannot always speak from their heart, but filter their feelings so neither partner is hurt.]
well, youʼre standing on my sternum dont you climb down darling oh the sermons are the first to rest smoke on Sundays when youʼre drunk and dressed out the hollows where the swallow nests
[The sternum protects the heart and lungs, therefore he is professing that she has control over his heart and life. He's fully in love, and he can't let her go. All of her innocent perceptions and fairy tales ('sermons') died fast, and she sinks into the state of reality that he was in when she found him. The last line is important to restoring contentment to the song. Swallows are symbolic of hope, new love, and happiness, and the 'hollows' represent the depths of her soul. Therefore, he is saying that hope and happiness continue to 'nest' or regenerate within her soul.]