I went through a really rough breakup. One Saturday I had this song on repeat all day long. Suprisingly it empowered me rather than depressed me. It haunts you, yet is insightful. I have never again had my heart slayed so painfully because of this song and Natalies words and voice.
Personally I don't interpret this song as being about unrequited love. Just a seven year relationship where one partner adored the other, fully believing in the ideals their partner represented. Then something happened and she saw her partners true colors, realised he was full of it and then she felt betrayed for having been led to believe something false for 7 years.
This songs is about regreting having loved someone (or something) so intensely and completely to the point of not seeing the lies and deception. She sings this song after realizing the painful truth. As she sorrowfuly remebers how deep in love she was, she regrets those long seven years now lost. I love this song because it reveals how deep and profound True love can be to that point of blindness>>> Like a double edge bliss that can make us fly up high and/or destroy us in an instant. Through this song, Natalie so beautifully warns us about the risks and dangers of loving blindly.
I think RogerRoger is pretty right on. True love is not only blind, it is all about losing a piece of yourself. Anyone who can't relate to that is a sorry soul. (Even if it wasn't all of seven years.)
And at the end a little bitterness is a healthy thing. She is moving on from this experience. She sounds strong to me. :-)
This is a haunting, epic, aching song with expressive instrumentals. The meaning of the lyrics is obvious but the true highlight of this song is the powerful emotion poured into the music.
And I should have written - I loved this deep and this blindly once, and I've never loved or trusted so completely since regaining "my sight" and "seeing everthing you hid."