| The Wallflowers – If You Never Got Sick Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This song paints a different picture for me. I see a disintegrating relationship with an emotionally damaged woman. She goes to him for physical comfort. He's so infatuated that he's eager just to be used. He knew her before, and picked her up when she was on the rebound. Now he's doomed to be the rebound guy. If he had waited, maybe they could have had something. But then if he had waited, maybe he wouldn't have gotten anything. It took me a while to get the imagery. The parachute is referencing the relationship, about to crash and burn. With the "jug of wine," he says she's using him; drinking his blood. The barren field is the loveless place she's gone after a failed relationship. No good comes from following somebody there. What I find gripping is on one hand his awareness of the doomed, destructive nature of the relationship and on the other his powerlessness in the face of his lust and emotion. He never talks about her qualities, just the feeling that grips him. Despite all his critical awareness, he can hope: Even you are going to need someone. |
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