Waits seems to have a common motif of lover as God, but it does seem to me that he's speaking to an actual person, rather than a divinity despite the Biblical images.
The song to me is about a yearning which lasts beyond all hope or despair. He will hold onto the (metaphorical) hand of the song's subject, no matter what she does or thinks of him. Is it creepy? Certainly. Is it powerful? Yes. Love, especially the hopeless love of Tom Waits, takes place beyond good and evil.
I love the switch, using the same images, from suicide to damnation ("Dare me to jump"/"Fall from your grace"), all in the same context.
Waits seems to have a common motif of lover as God, but it does seem to me that he's speaking to an actual person, rather than a divinity despite the Biblical images.
The song to me is about a yearning which lasts beyond all hope or despair. He will hold onto the (metaphorical) hand of the song's subject, no matter what she does or thinks of him. Is it creepy? Certainly. Is it powerful? Yes. Love, especially the hopeless love of Tom Waits, takes place beyond good and evil.
I love the switch, using the same images, from suicide to damnation ("Dare me to jump"/"Fall from your grace"), all in the same context.