In the Garden

Well i see this song on two levels first off i see it as describing a women who has been violated in a horrid way over a period of time. I feel maybe rape/molestation of some sort? Defiantly an ongoing offence has occurred somewhere in this womens life!( I can't remember when this offence begun) Maybe by a grandfather/brother or even a best friend she tried to help? Maybe even her ex boyfriend, who knows it doesn't say but it has happened. It has to be someone she trusted/loved due to the nature of the lyric "I thought i knew you" describing her putting some love and trust into them. "I cant go there" or "you cant come here" a stranger really wouldn't care well not usually on staying in contact with a victim so im leaning to someone she once loved and trusted has subtly taken advantage of her over time and caused a major ongoing offence on her. Now he is threatening her somehow to keep quiet and stay quiet "I'll keep my secret with me until I die". Maybe threatening to take their daughter from her? This has killed her inside and now she just feels numb not knowing how to deal with the pain, life just keeps going "round and round" in motionless circles for her. The mental effect is taking its toll on her big time. She also has children i believe with this person "I see her playing in the Garden i was once like her" meaning she used to be like her daughter and she will not let the same happen to her as it did herself. "Like your father" i believe is referring to the offender, basically she must know the father of this person which makes me think he was a boyfriend/ex husband and father of the daughter playing in the garden. She has spent some time with the family (maybe even been part of it if married) or heard about his fathers problems and maybe she was trying to help this guy get away from his father maybe they became involved and he was trying to be different to his abusive father but turned out to be like father like son. He "cant come here" i believe refers to him not talking about the problem he caused she don't wanna go there with him he doesn't care its all a joke to him he cant cry he hold's no account for what he did and really it's her problem to him, he sounds like an evil person. The chorus tells me he still must see her on a regular basis maybe he is the father of her daughter (and no i do not believe the woman in the song is Dolores iv'e heard her real husband is a loving family man). She will not go there and revisit the pain she will cry, she is ruined, her soul is fragmented and she now accepts it as a cross she must bear this guy turned her paradise into a nightmare. Every time she see's him the nightmare stars again another way i also see "round and round and round" as it starts again.

The second level i see this song is on a spiritual level. Basically in the Garden i believe refers to eden a place of perfection/paradise and innocence although no ones life is perfect now in a fallen world i believe this woman felt her life was going good in many ways she felt as though she was in eden. Then i believe the guy who destroyed her is like his father the devil. Satan is a schemer he is subtle and uses people. This guy mimics the style of his spiritual father Satan as Satan deceived Eve i believe this guy got the woman deceived somehow and now she is paying so bad due to his awful offences. He caused a panic in her paradise as the Serpent Satan caused a huge panic due to deceiving Eve although she holds the responsibility as she chose to eat therefore i know this woman feels so much regret over her choice in getting involved with this man. I know Dolores is a Christian and it is evident in a few of the Cranberries songs and The Journey on following album and i feel she is using this biblical theme to show the deception and pain this man caused. As Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden and into a world of Turmoil so has this woman. She sees her daughter still in the Innocence of the garden and she remembers being in the garden as im sure many times after their expulsion Adam and Eve wished to be back in their state of innocence but to late they now suffer at the hands of Satan and the consequence of their rebellion against God.

Basically this is my in depth view of the song and the 2 meanings i sense are to do describing it but i could very well be wrong and i respect and also agree on some of the other interpretations listed above. Like most songs they can be interpreted any way the listener wants. I have always found the Cranberries and Dolores work very helpful in times of Pain and heartache. Blessings Nate