I think the song is written excellently and open to multiple interpretations, as any good piece of art is. This is what the song means to me:
He likes a girl a lot. The girl likes him, too, but only for drunken sex. “This is the crux.” She is seeing other people as well. “Remember what your heart is for” means that he does not want to have sex with her if it not going to be for love, because his heart will be broken if he does. So he does not have sex with her, at first. He worries about being killed by her other boyfriend. “It’s a good night for a fist fight.” This death would be "by your hand," because she would be responsible since she led the protagonist along and caused this. He fantasizes that she is dreaming of a long-term relationship with him, even though he knows deep down that she isn't. He ends up having sex with her on a pool table “I lay you down atop the baize.” This time he didn’t remember what his heart was for and soon his heart is broken. The last “by your hand” refers to his own death, a suicide caused by her inability to return the love he has for her.
I think the song is written excellently and open to multiple interpretations, as any good piece of art is. This is what the song means to me:
He likes a girl a lot. The girl likes him, too, but only for drunken sex. “This is the crux.” She is seeing other people as well. “Remember what your heart is for” means that he does not want to have sex with her if it not going to be for love, because his heart will be broken if he does. So he does not have sex with her, at first. He worries about being killed by her other boyfriend. “It’s a good night for a fist fight.” This death would be "by your hand," because she would be responsible since she led the protagonist along and caused this. He fantasizes that she is dreaming of a long-term relationship with him, even though he knows deep down that she isn't. He ends up having sex with her on a pool table “I lay you down atop the baize.” This time he didn’t remember what his heart was for and soon his heart is broken. The last “by your hand” refers to his own death, a suicide caused by her inability to return the love he has for her.