| Guster – Diane Lyrics | 20 years ago |
|
You know, I've always agreed with wimpy_shrimpy's version of what this song means--the singer and Diane in a relationship that's lost its magic, and the two of them are just trying to string it along without knowing what to do or whether they're still in love. However, upon closer inspection--I wonder if the song is about something different? Lines like "we'll make it out together" and "I'll come right back for you" imply that he knows he loves Diane, which doesn't seem in keeping with the rest of the song, which is about doubt and a uncertain farce of a relationship. I always put this down to the songwriter's way of sending mixed messages in a confusing way to show how confusing and full of mixed messages the situation is for the singer, but now I'm not so sure that's the explanation. I now think that it might mean that the singer and Diane are indeed in love--but are unable to be legitimately together because she is married or with someone else (and maybe he is as well--I think so). If this is the case, I think the song also implies that they're having an affair together. Like...the secret that they're keeping is that they love each other; they can't say it, because it would break up the marriages/relationships. He has to watch her leave because she belongs to another man, and he belongs to another woman. I think the line "we lie together when we say it's love" is important--it's clearly a play on words, because "lie together" means sex, obviously. But the use of the word "when" makes it sound like the most significant meaning of the phrase is that they're lying when they say it's love. I think he means that when they say that they love the people they're married to/dating, it's a lie...but the double meaning of "lie together" implies that it's also a lie when the singer and Diane have sex, because they're not really the couple they wish they were. "Who were you just thinking of, Diane?" is a legitimate question. She's got a lot of men around--but I think the singer could be highlighting that she thinks she thinks about him more than her husband. Or perhaps he's just so terribly confused by the whole situation...he's really wondering who she's dreaming about. The man she truly loves (him), or the man she shares her life with (the husband/boyfriend)? The theme of secrets being told when a person talks in his/her sleep makes me think that she talks about the singer when she's sleeping, and that's the theme that visits them every night when they dream and their guards are down. The last line, I think, says that someday he thinks he'll leave his wife/relationship and come back for Diane. But I don't know! Just a new explanation that makes more sense to me than my original explanation of the song--all the words seem to fit, unlike before. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.