Come Back Margaret

Traceyanne is my cousin and as far as i know this song was originally written about the passing of our grandmother which left my grandfather lost in his world, this song will forever hold my memories shared in the household and will always be my most favoured song, so blessed to have a great family and talented cousin

She's secretly in love with a right-wing Tory Boy, but she has to compete with his adulation of Margaret Thatcher. She wishes Thatcher would come back to power, so Tory Boy would be happy, and she could explore being a laissez-faire capitalist.

Trying to get into the right-wing mood, she says she likes the "free days with no expectations", clearly a metaphor for the free market, and that she likes it "my way with no limitations", which refers to the new right ideology of individualism and unregulated capitalism. But still, she can't overcome her natural left-wing, liberal instincts, and can't help but "despise" Tory Boy for his political beliefs, even as she loves him.

In the next verse, she says "Darling you will always be around'. At first glance, this would seem to refer to Alistair Darling, chancellor of the exchequer from 2007 to 2010, and his ubiquitous presence in the media due to his status as a senior political figure. However, Darling was a Labour MP and, although New Labour moved considerably closer to a Thatcherite ideology, it seems unlikely that Alistair Darling is quite as enamoured with Margaret as the unnamed object of the songwriter's affections.

It seems more likely that the actual subject of the song is Captain Darling, from TV's Blackadder. Despite being a fictional character from a show set in the early 20th century, Darling's status as an upwardly-mobile middle-class member of the officers, clearly identifies him as a proto-Thatcherite. Furthermore, the constant repeats of Blackadder on G.O.L.D. and other freeview channels explains why he will "Always be around, whether my mood's up or if it's down".

The final clue to Darling being a fictional character is how the songwriter dreams of "taking him far away". Far away from the horrors of the WW1 battlefields that eventually claim his character's life. Why can't she take him far away in real life? Because in real life he's just a figure on a TV screen, played by Tim McInnerny. And he won't stay because when she wakes up, he's back where he was on TV. She could take Tim McInnerny far away, but that wouldn't be the same.

this song is truly beautiful, the string arrangement is incredibly reminescent of '60s girlgroup days and tracyann's voice is just ethereal... a true gem.

i agree-- this song is beautiful, and i feel like most of their songs are reminiscent of the 60s because of tracyann's voice and the tambourines and most everything they put into their works. the violins are awesome.

obviously no one wants to talk about the meaning anyway Ive always thought it was about a woman whose husband was having an affair (with margaret) and she hates her husband, but margaret breaks off the affair and shes stuck with her husband. I think the narrator also has a mild crush on the woman her husband was cheating with really i have no idea..

sarahluvsu182 - i think the "mild crush" is actually a lot more intense.

i think the narrator is in love with margaret. and she's married to a man and they all sleep together ("i'd like to explore you") but the only way she can act on it, to her, is because she's married to the man. ("with love for him i disguise / despise"). but really, she wants to run away with margaret: "in dreams i try to take you far away"

and maybe margaret's in love with the man? "you never stay"

its a song about her grandmother... lovely song

My initial take on "Come Back, Margaret" was that it was about an affair. Because it's right after "Tears for Affairs" on the album (Let's Get Out of This Country), I always felt like this was the back story to the eventual peace she finds in "Tears for Affairs". That being said...

She beckons Margaret to come back because he "wants to explore you" which is obviously of a sensual nature but also because she'd "like to explore you." Like get to know the other woman a little better, see who the competition is and what she's all about. Women love to gossip and get really into the details about stuff like that. The line about the tears in her eyes for love for this cheating man is directed towards Margaret, almost like 'can't you see what this is doing to me? why did you do this to us!?' A relatively universal sentiment for the significant other to the 'Other Woman'.

"I like the free days with no expectations / I like it my way with no limitation" refers to the freedom of being single and getting everything her way again. But the last two lines of this verse tell of the pain of the way the relationship ended. She still cries for him even though she paradoxically despises him. It's like, by the time the affair occurred/she uncovered the affair she already loved this man but then for him to do such a thing is just truly despicable. So despite his awful deeds unto her, she can't help but still love him (she's not over that yet.)

"Darling, you will always be around / Whether my mood's up or if it's down" is about the man she loved. When you fall in love, you think of someone all the time. And when it ends (good or bad) you still think of them at some of the most unexpected times. So this line is saying that he's still in her heart no matter what happened. The rest of this verse "In dreams I try to take you far away / But you never stay / No, you never stay" is, because of the context, about the man. By taking him far away she means that she is trying to get over him and it doesn't work. But if you took that part of the song out of context, it could be about Margaret too, about wanting her to go away but she never stays out of the way.

I never thought this was about being stuck with the man, I thought it was about loving him first and not being able to stop thinking about him no matter how much it hurts but eh it's all interpretation.

As dividee5 says, it definitely could be about her grandmother, and while I don't know what it's MEANT to be about, I think the beautiful thing about music is that everyone gets something different out of it. In the case that Margaret is the narrator's late grandmother, the "him" involved would most likely be the grandfather (or possibly step-grandfather/lover of the grandma). In the case that Margaret is the step-grandmother/lover of her grandfather who left, it would also make sense. She no longer has to live up to the expectations of this woman though she still misses her and thinks of taking her ("far away") on vacation.

i really think it's about a girl who loves a guy but he doesn't exactly love her back. maybe they're just friends or casual or something. and then he starts dating this chick margaret and it really gets to her. then since they're not dating or anything she has to disguise her love for him and she's really broken up inside and wishes she could have this guy. i think they're friends because she says he'll "always be around" but she wishes they could be more. i love the part about her taking him away in her dreams and him not staying...that's so so beautiful and heartbreaking.