The Wrong Man Was Convicted

I wonder if the "crime" he committed was getting her pregnant and then refusing to marry her. Then some other guy came along that loved her and would love her child without quibbling about it "not being his". Now the woman he thought he could go to whenever he wanted is happily married to the responsible, caring guy. And he knows it's his own doing.

i love this song. i girl like two guys, and the one (the singer) loved her so much and knew she'd be happier with the other guy, and let her go. told her he needed space when he really wanted nothing more than to be with her. and he thought that she'd see this and choose him anyways... but she didn't. and now he's stuck with that decision.

wow, i had this song in my playlist for a long time but never really "listened" to it.... it is awesome. it's pretty self-explainitory. i agree with wrion's interpretation. a beautiful song...

I had a similar experience to Redlight this fall... incredible hidden jewel in BNL's catalog.

I also recommend War on Drugs for a similarly hidden beautiful song.

I'm not completely sure about the above interpretation.

"I thought you would wait for me" makes it sounds like he really DID need space.

I once had a relationship like this. My first one. We got so close we did absolutely everything together. I loved it, but eventually I developed doubts. Did she love me or just the idea of being in a relationship? Did I love her or was I so used to having her around that I didn't know anything else.

I grew distant from her, trying to figure out my feelings. She eventually broke up with me, saying that I didn't seem to care enough about her and I didn't pay enough attention to her, but I figured we'd get back together in a month or two once I had time to figure things out. She found someone else a month later and married him.

An experience like THIS I think is what the song is talking about. You need space, you expect your loved one to be there for you when you are ready. But they've moved on.

"And all because I lacked conviction, the judgment's my mistake"

Because if the person just believed in the relationship more, had conviction, they wouldn't have been trying to figure out their own issues.

"Who's lonely now? It takes one to know one"

During the relationship, HE was the distant one and she felt lonely all the time. Now, their roles are reversed.

"I changed my mind; you said that I could change it back"

Same thing happened for me. We discussed our breakup after a while and she said that she could see us being together again in a while, after she had some time to be alone. A week later, she found someone else.

Once again, Zamrod has it nailed.

It is about breaking off a relationship, and realalizing later what a stupid decision it really was.

This is not BNL most popular song, but I think it is their best. Or at least the one with the best message.

As I recall, this one and "am I the only one" on this album are both about one of the lead singers (this is from the era when both Ed & Steve fronted the band) was in love with the woman who had married his brother, and these two songs were about her. They stopped performing them after awhile out of respect to the brother and sister in law. Remember that BNL formed when the guys were all quite young and young love and romance are when those emotions are the strongest and situations like this seem most intense and important. For a band that's been around for so many years all of their music really stands the test of time.