Bad luck, Tim.

This song is about fulfilling your dreams, fantasizing, wishing to fall in love, and realizing that even if this happens, it might not be as heavenly as the TV makes it out to be... "we all want to be big stars...we don't know why." the ultimate moral to me is to enjoy the time you have in life, no matter what it may be, and learn to appreciate the beauty right in front of you

its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard

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.

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?