The lyrics to through the dark seem to reference several film tropes and cinematic imagery, rather than a single specific movie. The references to “Sicilian men” and “brides in black shawls” could evoke scenes from classic mafia or Italian films, possibly drawing from films like The Godfather, which deals with Sicilian traditions and family honor. The imagery of a “silver-screen starlet,” “black and white blonde,” and a “smoke-filled room” could be nodding to the noir or old Hollywood genre, referencing anonymous blonde actresses who were often central to those films but remembered more for their image than their names. The idea of repeated televised lines and the feeling of having “seen the film before” might suggest commentary on familiar stories that we’ve seen repeated in cinema, especially those involving violence, loss, and tradition. The mixture of personal emotion and cinematic elements suggests a blending of personal experience with iconic film imagery.

My Interpretation on this is that the narrator in the song used to be with a girl that he loved so much and but during that time he was one of the cool guys at school that lived freely(partying and alcohol, etc.) and he wasn't really able to get over his former glory. on the other hand, his girlfriend/ex matured, and started thinking about their future and got a job/career. and since he became much like an alcoholic bum of a sort, he got jealous with the girl having to work all the time having no time for him so didn't felt like "he mattered to her". somewhere in there, they broke up. so one night he went to her place all drunk so he's got this "too drunk to drive" excuse to stay. Trying to somehow patch things between them by telling her that she was "the best he ever had" and that he's really sorry for having "blew up" their relationship years ago, or else they'd still be together. On the second verse he was trying to tell her that all he really want is to be with her and that he has somehow improved that if she'd take him back, he'd no longer drink and sleep around and if she'll accept that he's still in the process of picking himself up and not to expect a great make over, then she might not be let down. The chorus is his way of telling her that they can still do what they used to find exiting or an adrenaline rush and that by doing so, even if the past is gone, they might still be able to pick-up some of the pieces of their past and replace their past failures with a renewed love to take it's place. The last part he says, "she took my heart", means he never got over her and probably never will. The line "there's only one thing I couldn't start", means that he couldn't actually start the conversation with her because he was too drunk to think straight and all of these words were just running inside his head and these were all the things he wanted to tell her.

Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.

He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.

Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?