Skeleton Key

This is such a great song..I love the beat, lyrics and music of it. This is my interpretation:

"I did a sick, sick thing to my love My lack of loyalty, it swallowed her up"

He was in a relationship with a girl, and cheated on her, and now she's sad and it's consuming her.

"And she cooked me food She squirmed and turned Like a skeleton key"

She did everything for him, but in a way he's saying she's just a girl, they'll all do that, she's not any different. The skeleton key term refers to her being a "female", she can open any door- as in get into any guy's head. Like a girl that toys with a guy's emotions.

"She left her man and attended to me"

She left her last boyfriend/husband to be with him. He says she's being a slut by jumping from another guy to him.

"And don't call me that Don't claim you love me Cause you know that ain't true"

She may have called him "baby", "sweetie", "darling" etc He tells himself that she doesn't love him, maybe he feels no one could ever love him. Perhaps he thinks all girls are the same, they only want to use him.

"My dire affliction I'll attribute to you"

He blames her for him feeling guilty. He hurt her, and she ACTUALLY loved him. So he blamed her for loving him and getting so close to him. Saying it's her fault she got hurt.

"And you're finally free To twist and turn Like a skeleton key"

He broke up with her and now he says she's free to be kinda well..like a slut maybe? He thinks all girls "open your door" and hurt you and then move on to the next guy.

"You've gotta let me know You've gotta let me know"

He's either telling her to prove to him, that she actually loves him; he wants to know if he actually messed up something that was probably the best thing he ever had. Or, he's wants her to lie and tell him she never really loved him and that he wasn't in the wrong for hurting her. The guilt of what he's done is eating him alive.

"I did a horrible thing to that girl I bred my misery and drowned it in her"

The horrible thing he's referring to is that he used her. He caused his own problems, then ran to her looking for comfy or sympathy. Drowning his misery in her.

"And she got me high And I hardly noticed there were tears in her eyes"

She got him high as in, she made him feel better. Maybe smothered him with affection trying to take his mind off his problems. The tears referring to how she ACTUALLY cried tears for him in his misery, she empathized with him, but he never really paid any attention to that.

"And I miss you less and less everyday This stream of whisky's helped to wash you away"

He misses her, even though he tells himself she was only using him. So he's drinking to numb the pain he says she caused him, and by drinking it helps him to forget her.

"And it's clear to see You're nothing special You're a skeleton key"

He's trying to turn all his pain on her, because she's moved on and found someone who wouldn't hurt her the way he did. Like he's sitting back feeling sorry for what he did, then he sees her with someone else, and just basically says she's a slut for moving on. He's trying to reassure himself that she was nothing special, she was just a girl, and they all use you and move on to the next boy toy.

"You've gotta let me know You've gotta let me know You've gotta let me know"

He can't get her out of his head, the guilt of hurting her, someone who actually cared about him, is really beating him up. He's almost begging her to tell him how she really felt about him; hoping that he wasn't wrong for what he did to her, that she didn't really love him.

^ ^ This is only how I perceive the song myself. (Sorry for any spelling errors)