I always love reading how other listeners interpret songs as I feel that adds layers of richness to my own experience of a song. It also allows me to see things from another perspective rather than just being caught up in my own emotions and experiences (which sometimes I feel can blind me).
I read somewhere that Scott Matthews refused to comment on the meaning of these lyrics. So for me, the question is what do these lyrics mean for me?
My interpretation of the song is that of being in a new relationship but living daily with the remnants of another relationship that hurt very deeply. The elusive person is not the current partner but rather a past love that lives with and you daily, almost as if you feel their presence in every wake of your current life as referenced by the lines;
‘She's elusive and I'm awake
You're finally real, there's nothing fake
A mystery now to me and you
Open my eyes and I'm next to you’
The opening lines of the song reference the a gambler and coldness (elusiveness) of that past love. In interpret the reference to a gambler as being the hands of fate. The cold elusive character is a lover who could never quite love you back the way you needed if at all. On a personal level I relate the opening lines as making reference to the way that as humans we are almost fated to re-enact our earliest experiences of love (usually with parents and caregivers) and therefore fated to a certain destiny until we ‘set our selves free’. For me growing up with emotionally distant parents somehow has meant I have previously been drawn to very cold distant partners who were unable to show love and affection like my own parents. Almost as if deep inside I have been trying to make sense of that original ‘injury’ to come to some sort of peace with myself and that ‘my destiny lies in the hands in the one that sets me free’ i.e. that I finally love myself enough to set me free from allowing others to hurt me.
In the song however the character wakes up and opens their eyes and again find themselves next to their lover in the metaphorical sense, suggesting that they have not been able to heal yet and still yearn for their elusive ex lover suggesting they are not yet free.
The next verse then seems set in the present:
Reckless night, she hears me breathe
Cursing the sky at this company
They lost the wisdom deep inside
When bitterness shows its side
If it's true, I am doomed
What more is there to hold on to?
A strand of her hair is all I own
A gift to me, this sorry soul
Here the character is now in a present relationship but cannot seem to put the last lover who follows them through their daily life out of their head. They curse the company but the present lover interprets that curse as being meant for them. Because by that point the bitterness has set in because either way they are doomed bc yiu either explain to a current lover that you were cursing an old lover who you can’t shake off of them because you are not happy.
In the end there is nothing left to hold onto because the original hurt i.e. the deep hurt from childhood has not been healed which then allowed the current hurt as an adult to set in which now blights every other relationship. There is the sense that this cycle will not end until the character sets themselves free. This is all hinted at in the next verse. The sense that the hurt is much deeper and that it lives within the character, threatening their happiness at any moment.
The sun in sails and this ain't right
There's more to her than meets the eye
She comes and goes at any time
Back in my head at another time
The song finally ends with the chorus but most significantly the line:
“She said my destiny lies in the hands that set me free”
This for me is the most significant line of the song and the clue that this feeling of unease and heat-break will not end until they themselves set them free. The longing for the previous lover is merely a symptom of a much deeper pain.
Apologies in advance for typos etc. English is not my first language.
I always love reading how other listeners interpret songs as I feel that adds layers of richness to my own experience of a song. It also allows me to see things from another perspective rather than just being caught up in my own emotions and experiences (which sometimes I feel can blind me).
I read somewhere that Scott Matthews refused to comment on the meaning of these lyrics. So for me, the question is what do these lyrics mean for me?
My interpretation of the song is that of being in a new relationship but living daily with the remnants of another relationship that hurt very deeply. The elusive person is not the current partner but rather a past love that lives with and you daily, almost as if you feel their presence in every wake of your current life as referenced by the lines;
‘She's elusive and I'm awake You're finally real, there's nothing fake A mystery now to me and you Open my eyes and I'm next to you’
The opening lines of the song reference the a gambler and coldness (elusiveness) of that past love. In interpret the reference to a gambler as being the hands of fate. The cold elusive character is a lover who could never quite love you back the way you needed if at all. On a personal level I relate the opening lines as making reference to the way that as humans we are almost fated to re-enact our earliest experiences of love (usually with parents and caregivers) and therefore fated to a certain destiny until we ‘set our selves free’. For me growing up with emotionally distant parents somehow has meant I have previously been drawn to very cold distant partners who were unable to show love and affection like my own parents. Almost as if deep inside I have been trying to make sense of that original ‘injury’ to come to some sort of peace with myself and that ‘my destiny lies in the hands in the one that sets me free’ i.e. that I finally love myself enough to set me free from allowing others to hurt me.
In the song however the character wakes up and opens their eyes and again find themselves next to their lover in the metaphorical sense, suggesting that they have not been able to heal yet and still yearn for their elusive ex lover suggesting they are not yet free.
The next verse then seems set in the present:
Reckless night, she hears me breathe Cursing the sky at this company They lost the wisdom deep inside When bitterness shows its side If it's true, I am doomed What more is there to hold on to? A strand of her hair is all I own A gift to me, this sorry soul
Here the character is now in a present relationship but cannot seem to put the last lover who follows them through their daily life out of their head. They curse the company but the present lover interprets that curse as being meant for them. Because by that point the bitterness has set in because either way they are doomed bc yiu either explain to a current lover that you were cursing an old lover who you can’t shake off of them because you are not happy.
In the end there is nothing left to hold onto because the original hurt i.e. the deep hurt from childhood has not been healed which then allowed the current hurt as an adult to set in which now blights every other relationship. There is the sense that this cycle will not end until the character sets themselves free. This is all hinted at in the next verse. The sense that the hurt is much deeper and that it lives within the character, threatening their happiness at any moment.
The sun in sails and this ain't right There's more to her than meets the eye She comes and goes at any time Back in my head at another time
The song finally ends with the chorus but most significantly the line:
“She said my destiny lies in the hands that set me free”
This for me is the most significant line of the song and the clue that this feeling of unease and heat-break will not end until they themselves set them free. The longing for the previous lover is merely a symptom of a much deeper pain.
Apologies in advance for typos etc. English is not my first language.