The Edges Are No Longer Parallel

The lyrics are from the point of view of someone with bipolar disorder whose mood swing cycles previously tended to "balance out" in the long run, but who now for some reason has entered a major depressive episode that seems bottomless and hopeless.

let me be the first. As good as anything the man's ever done, essential listening!

Let me be the last, It's another moz classic,How oh how does he always, always know how I feel.I am seriously considering of suing him for stealing all my private thoughts.

One of the best song Moz ever wrote. the sudden change in the second verse as if he now realize everything is fake..."And the looks you gave so meaningful They are all so suddenly meaningless". what a sad ending, it does seem to me that's my mistake also- keep hoping ! Moz in his best performance here

Love this song, such beautiful music and so beautifully sung. This is another great lost song from the Maladjusted era that wound up as a b-side and on the Lost EP. I don't completely understand why Morrissey chose parallel lines as the title and one of the two metaphors for this song. I suppose parellel lines could indicate order in the universe that has now been thrown off by the change in the relationship that is described in the song. The law of average metaphor makes perfect sense in term of how Morrissey feels about the change in the relationship- his feelings will always be down- they will never average up to good or fair. It is interesting how he takes full responsibility for his perpetually down feelings- because he keeps hoping the relationship wil change to how he wants it to be.

Another interpretation. The parallel lines could indicate that both parties were friends in a platonic relationship and that the lines (at least his line) is no longer parellel to his friends because he wants them to interesect (have a romantic relationship). But the lyrics about the words and the actions being previously meaningful and now meaningless in this interpretation don't make sense. It sounds like they were once close and now distant.

I always thought the song was about losing one's grasp with reality. Slowly going insane. Edges are no longer parallel, meaning extremes colliding with one another. Good/bad , happy/sad, they are all now one and the same. Constantly living in a world of extremes. Hence "no law of averages here" line.

Just my 2 cents. It's a great song.

These lyrics are beautiful in the way they succinctly describe bi-polar condition in its early stages.