Down To The Wire

"the voice is now the choir." = the voice in his head saying she is bad news is now screaming at him like a loud choir.

Obviously about a girl you wish loved you as much as you love her but she would rather use you until your resources are gone, then letting you go.

This is a great song. I agree with jakegpy that it seems to be about a one sided relationship. The feel of inferiority in a relationship, knowing your time with the person will someday soon meet a sad end, for you.

I like the way Neil (I think it's Neil singing this one) is practically shouting the lyrics, trying to be heard. Gives me an image of the frail and young Neil Young behind the mic, giving it all he's got. And the backing vocals to this song really make this song. The "oh oh oh" really gives it a haunting feeling.

Sounds like Neil is writing about some kind of addiction. What helped him out is now letting him down and laughing at him.

A story about dreams, deceit and realization.

"Every time you touch her sets your hands on fire,"

Hands on fire has two meanings to me; One would be to become highly aroused with desire of the woman touched, and the other would be the completely opposite; to get burned, as in rejected or become struck by a sudden pain.

"And everything you've got is all that she requires."

Again a line with a double suggestion to me; One would be that "you" possesses all the qualities needed to fulfill all her expectations or needs she would ever have in a man. In another way, the line may suggest that the woman in question, is a kind of woman that will suck any man dry for whatever he got, may it be of material, emotional or spiritual value to her.

“And you hang on, hang on, hang on to the words of a liar.”

And here comes the turning line that makes it clear which of the two different meanings the previous lines have; “You” have been hanging on to a hope that she has been true to the words that gave you the impression that this was a woman that sincerely wanted to share a love and truly appreciated your presence, but the last line “the words of a liar”, reveals at least to the audience/ reader that the woman has not been speaking truthfully, and that there has been little else to ”hang on to”, or in other words; support, the existence of the relationship.

Plot twist; It is not perfectly clear that the words of a liar belongs to the woman, although it is safe to assume so, since all previous lines speaks of “you” and “her”, logically the same rules apply for this line. But I would suggest that there could be, intentionally or unintentionally, a deeper understanding in looking at the option that the real liar is the singer, or “you” himself, who through inexperience fooled himself and created this impression for himself, misinterpreting either the woman’s words, or simply dreamed up a fantasy image of this woman, even though an experienced individual could have seen the red flags, and the cracks of the facade from far away.

“You can feel it’s getting down to the wire.”

In any case, “you” notice that this fantasy-image is slowly fading, to a point of realization that there will demand a serious turnaround of the apparent evidence that this relationship are crumbling at its very fundaments, or it will snap at the wire, and come to a natural end.

“All the hurt you thought was gone has now returned”

I would guess “the hurt” in question is the feelings of abandonment, mistrust, loneliness, lack of love and the like, that was before meeting this woman, and now returning while still in the relationship. And it is exampled by the next line; “And everything she's laughing at is all you learned.”

It does not feel much like a loving togetherness anymore when the woman your with are belittling and ignoring your knowledge, experience and pleads to be heard or respected. A man can only take this kind of behavior for so long before;

“And you let go, let go, let go, 'cause you know you're getting tired.

Can you feel it getting down to the wire?”

Fine, OK, the future to this relationship seems pretty doomed. But wait; what have we learned through this experience?

“Take the time to close your eyes and look around,”

-Reflect on the situation and the experience a little bit.

“'Cause anyone who helped you out can let you down.”

She’s not the first and only person you have met that seemed to be nice and loving and kind and all, only to use you one way or the other, and eventually prove herself as a big fat fake liar and manipulator, is she?

“And look out, look out, look out, the voice is now the choir.”

When you think about it, how many of your friends and acquaintances are really your friends when it comes down to your needs and wishes? There are many people around telling little lies and making appearances, although perhaps not in such a in-your-face way as the female character in the story, but they are “singing the same story (the voice is now the choir)” so to speak.

“Can you feel it getting down to the wire?”

Finally, you can interpret this in a negative or positive way;

-Either it is back to start, you end up lonelier than before it all started, or;

+After all, a bad experience may turn out to a good realization and wisdom in age. Perhaps it is time to recognize and separate true intentions from fake opportunism, and cut some leaches from the personal sphere, and go on in life without the encumbrance. The story marks a new level of consciousness propelled by a tough love. A hard, but eventually an important lesson.