Deep Sea Diving Suit

Being "stuck" in a deep sea diving suit is being mired down by your past relationships. You wear the suit to survive the ocean, it is the protection you need to survive in a harsh environment. If you suddenly find yourself in an inviting environment, however, the suit becomes a hindrance, bulky and heavy, and it slows you down. Similarly, the emotional barriers you build to protect yourself from one bad relationship may hinder you when a good relationship comes along.

Beautiful that he doesn't beat you over the head with other ocean metaphors, though.

Going deep into the sea shouldn't be that bad, the girl should get a diving suit for herself so that both can enjoy love in the deep sea.

Sweet tune S.M.!!!!

I thought of it more like a communication thing, distance between people. The character can't connect or can't understand, so it feels like he's trapped underwater.

I see this song as being written from one friend to another, not about a relationship. Although the Magnetic Fields became known for doing tongue-in-cheek love songs through 69 Love Songs, the rest of their catalogue is pretty varied, especially their mid-nineties stuff. What's cool about this song is you can hear both sides of the story. Friend A feels too depressed (the significance of the fifty-pound lead boots, dragging him down to the bottom of the ocean) to deal with Friend B, and he feels betrayed when B decides to stop hanging out with him. But you can hear why B wrote him off: A comes off as pretty self-absorbed and self-pitying. Why would B say he never offered him anything if it weren't true?

Stephin Merritt gives you one guy's perspective, and thanks to his meticulous writing you get both sides of the story. Just another example of how great a songwriter he is.

Love is like being stuck in a deep sea diving suit, isn't it?