I interpreted this a little differently than ilove705. I think it's a little less coded and the meaning is a little more straightforward.
I think this song is talking about a breakup between the singer and a man, who is leaving her. He's probably leaving her to go on some sort of quest. It reminds me of the ancient times when the heroes had to leave their women to go save the world, but since this is from the girl's point of view, she doubts how useful his mission is. Therefore she says "off to slay some dragon or dragonfly". Dragons are dangerous, but dragonflies are harmless.
So as he leaves her, he takes her necklace with the note inside. But even though she may be a little bitter, she wishes him well on the way to his journey. She says that she "can tell how hard you're trying", and I think this means he's trying to prove himself to the world. So she tells him to keep "our secret hope" and just to cope. But in the end, "on the steepest slope, there'll be an endless rope" for him to go back to her whenever he's done. That's why neither of them will cry, because he will come back.
The 2nd verse is a little trickier. It says "Well a long night turns into a couple long years Of me walkin' around, around this trail of tears" and it isn't clear whether these years are after he left (and therefore she's still waiting) or while he was with her (the relationship was difficult because of his problems), but I think it is the first one. Even though she told him that he will be able to come back, she isn't sure he will anymore because of how long it's been since she's seen him. There's a voice in her mind that tells her that the love the two shared is gone, and he never cared "for me, for anything, for anyone" in the first place.
But even despite these fears, she still wishes that wherever he is, his fears are dispelled by angels. And I think to stop herself from crying that he's not coming back, in the end she remembers the memory of when he left, and how she swore she wouldn't cry, thinking he would someday come back.
I interpreted this a little differently than ilove705. I think it's a little less coded and the meaning is a little more straightforward. I think this song is talking about a breakup between the singer and a man, who is leaving her. He's probably leaving her to go on some sort of quest. It reminds me of the ancient times when the heroes had to leave their women to go save the world, but since this is from the girl's point of view, she doubts how useful his mission is. Therefore she says "off to slay some dragon or dragonfly". Dragons are dangerous, but dragonflies are harmless. So as he leaves her, he takes her necklace with the note inside. But even though she may be a little bitter, she wishes him well on the way to his journey. She says that she "can tell how hard you're trying", and I think this means he's trying to prove himself to the world. So she tells him to keep "our secret hope" and just to cope. But in the end, "on the steepest slope, there'll be an endless rope" for him to go back to her whenever he's done. That's why neither of them will cry, because he will come back. The 2nd verse is a little trickier. It says "Well a long night turns into a couple long years Of me walkin' around, around this trail of tears" and it isn't clear whether these years are after he left (and therefore she's still waiting) or while he was with her (the relationship was difficult because of his problems), but I think it is the first one. Even though she told him that he will be able to come back, she isn't sure he will anymore because of how long it's been since she's seen him. There's a voice in her mind that tells her that the love the two shared is gone, and he never cared "for me, for anything, for anyone" in the first place. But even despite these fears, she still wishes that wherever he is, his fears are dispelled by angels. And I think to stop herself from crying that he's not coming back, in the end she remembers the memory of when he left, and how she swore she wouldn't cry, thinking he would someday come back.