Never Is a Promise

I don't think it's necessarily about a guy. It could be about anyone close to her. And the "you'll say you understand" and other references that appear to be in future tense are often cancelled out with present tense--"but you don't understand." It's a matter of wording, really, not tense.

She's definitely talking to a patronizing person in this song. She starts by talking about how this person overshadows everyone and everything in his path, how she feels that his demeanor covers who he really is--and he's really not a great person.

The first time she goes into "but as the scenery grows, I see in different lights," she's already told us about all the negative traits this person has, and now she's beginning to see a different side, or so she believes. "But as the scenery grows, I see in different lights" means "as time goes on, I'm learning to look at things differently." "The shades and shadows undulate in my perception" means "Im seeing things I've never seen before." "My feelings swell and stretch; I see from greater heights" means "I'm growing, and I can judge things better." "I understand what I am still too proud to mention to you" is a deep line. It appears that she is almost jealous of the person in that he gets the attention she needs and wants so badly, but she's starting to really need this person in her life, whether she likes it or not.

"You say you understand, but you don't understand" at this point is simply her realizing this about this person. "You say you'd never give up seeing eye to eye" is about a promise he makes and has broken. "But never is a promise, and you can't afford to lie"--she really, really wants the relationship with this person to work out, but her hope is starting to wane.

The second verse is more about her than the first verse. This person she's talking to is too material to be good with emotions, and she admits that she's hiding "the skin of her emotions beneath her own," probably for the sake of keeping the relationship between them as simple as possible. Yet when she says "you'll never feel the heat of this soul; my fever burns me deeper than I've ever shown to you," she's saying that her emotions can't stay hidden forever, and she's got so much to say, but he's not going to listen to a word of it. She keeps it all hidden because she doesn't want to fight or argue or be hurt.

"You say 'don't fear your dreams; it's easier than it seems'--you say you'd never let me fall from hopes so high" talks about how he encouraged her to do whatever she wanted to, not to be afraid, but then wasn't there for her when she needed him most. She finally showed some emotion, told him how she felt, but he let her down, didn't change anything, didn't try to make things better. The relationship between them is falling apart.

By the third verse, she admits that he's not an empathetic person and probably will never feel the way that she does; she's starting to feel alone and lost. She gets a bit angry, finally and rightfully, and says "you'll never hear the message I give," which means that he's never going comprehend her feelings. "You'll say it looks as though I might give up this fight" breaks off from the normal pattern. He's got her trapped in a corner. He wants to tie her down, keep her from expressing herself, beat her with lies until she falls into submission. The fact that she doesn't follow the normal pattern and add "to you" to the end shows that she's going to resist and break off.

When the "but as the scenery grows, I see in different lights" section begins again, she is still talking about how she's learning and growing and becoming a better judge, but the last phrase is different. "I realize what I am now too smart to mention to you." She's let this get out of hand, she's let her dreams and feelings and ideas been pushed away, and she no longer has control over anything in her life. Because of this experience, she knows that to try and talk to him about his breaking promises is to ask for even more trouble.

She says he'll NEVER understand, and it's the first time she uses the word "never" during the chorus to imply anything other than him making promises, which shows her finally admitting her situation; things aren't going to change, sadly. She says that she'll say she'll "never wake up knowing how or why"--it's HER turn to lie; she understands how and why things are the way they are now. "I don't know what to believe in"--she's been lied to so much that she doesn't know what to think anymore. "You don't know who I am"--he pretends to know her, but her doesn't know anything at all about how she feels. "You'll say I need appeasing when I start to cry" is another deep line. She cries because she doesn't know what to do, all because of him, and he says that she needs comforting; all the "comforting" he's done has done nothing but bring more tears and confusion. It's almost as if he's doing this on purpose.

"But never is a promise, and I'll never need a lie." By the end, she knows that this person isn't doing her any good, and though she may not be certain how to go about doing, she knows she needs to fix this, she needs to heal.

This whole song is just beautiful... I adore it.