I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)

"And i love my sister lord knows how i've missed her she loves me and she knows i won't forget sometimes i get jealous of all her little pets and i get lonely, but i ain't that lonely yet"

Even though they're divorced, Jack lets Meg know he still cares about her, and he always will. He gets jealous of the guys she sees (her "little pets"), but he doesn't let that ruin the relationship they still have with one another

I don't reckon it's incest. He's saying how he's lonely but hasn't given up yet on finding someone. He misses his mum but doesn't want to fly all the way to see her because of it. His sister has pets for company and so his sister and the pets aren't lonely but he doesn't want to solve his problem that way. There's a girl out there he could go for but he's not really interested so he'll give her a miss. He thinks about calling an old friend (perhaps his ex) but decides against that too. Then considers drowning himself but can't quite bring himself to do it. It's very simply about how lonely he is. Yet the fact he isn't going with any of the options he's thought of suggests he's got hope things will turn around. I really like this song!

Notice how there is no drums in this song. Jack did this song alone on the piano without Meg. These means a lot. Jack has referred to Meg as his sister. They were married, and now they have "split up," Jack has a longing, so to speak, to be with Meg again. Because of their current relationship, Jack sees everybody in Meg's life, and is jealous and lonely, even if Jack is with somebody, as he currently is. It shows Jack's love for Meg.

Everytime I hear this song the emotion of it hits me like nothing else...

Even though it's just vocals and piano, which is what makes this song so personal, this is a straight up country song. The chord progression is a standard heard in hundreds of other country songs, and the lyrics are also in that tears-in-your-beer vein.

More than that, I think the title that is repeated throughout the song was taken from a 1993 Dwight Yoakam song: 'I Ain't That Lonely Yet,' which is not only the same phrase but also sung very similarly by Yoakam.

Jack makes his lyrics more opaque and mystifies their meaning by introducing some unexpected and ambiguous themes (like the hint at a possible interpretation involving incest). (I think superdam pretty much nailed it on the head with his take on the meaning.) What really makes this song imo is the sparse arrangement and emotional performance (esp. in vocals).

It remembers me of the concert past saturday here, in Colombia, when they said good bye, Jack went down with the public and Meg didn't know what to do so she just like was going saying good bye with her hand, then jack appears behind her and raises her and says good bye and goes carrying her, definitely a Kodak moment 8one image worth more than 1000 words, I'll never forget this). it also reminds me of the Hotel Yorba video...

"and i love my sister lord knows how i've missed her she loves me and she knows i won't forget sometimes i get jealous of all her little pets and i get lonely, but i ain't that lonely yet yeah i get lonely, but i ain't that lonely yet "

I'm still trying to figure it out, let's see...

I forgot to say, i'm glad I'm new here and I was the first who comments this song!!!

Ooh. Nice lyrics! err, no idea what they could mean though. Perhaps "I'm on my own but I'll stick it out. It can only get better." dunno, maybe about trying to be optimistic in a bad situation? Ignore me, I'm shit at this kinda thing.

Has anyone else noticed how closely this songs piano resembles that of Black Sabbath's "Changes". Its pretty much lifted straight from that song.

hada_púrpura do you realise that Jack and Meg aren't brother and sister? They are ex husband and wife.