| Ani DiFranco – Providence Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It's about two people who both realize that the other is the "love of their life". For whatever reason (fate), they missed their opportunity to be together. They have a chance meeting and contemplate the possibility of being together, for one night or possibly forever. However there is obviously something that prevents them from living happily ever after. I think there could be a lot of different explanations as to why they can't be together now, but for the purpose of my interpretation I'll say they ended up in healthy relationships with other people, whom they also love and would never betray. The reason doesn't really matter, but the fact is that there is something that prevents them from being together and they can't 'cross that line' They try to rationalize cheating, perhaps by getting drunk, but in the end they refuse to betray their partner. I believe the part about the "front office" and the "two questions", is about the inner conflict of whether or not they should abandon their partner and be with their true love. She is imagining meeting her 'maker' after death and God saying something like 'I gave you an opportunity that night at the party, but you just walked away. I know you were thinking about running away with your true love, but you said/did nothing about it.' She is wondering 'Fate tore us apart, but is this Fate trying to put us back together'. The internal struggle is so great that they actually question 'Is being faithful to my partner actually the right thing, or should I run away with my true love?' It makes me think of June Carter and Johnny Cash. I'm sure people cursed him for cheating on his first wife Vivian and infidelity is obviously a terrible thing. But after being married to June for 35 years in which his love for her was so obvious, it seems like 'running away with his true love' was the right thing to do. However in this song, she chooses to not be with the love of her life, and will continue to wonder if that is actually the correct choice. Heartbreaking and one of my favorite songs of all time! |
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