Patron Saint

This hits me because I've just gone through something incredibly similar and I've only recently "let go of her hand"... she broke my heart because I tried to save her from herself. And I learned the feeling of love (she still only knows infatuation) If she ever reads this... Thank you.

(She's the kind of girl who'll smash herself down in the night She's the kind of girl who'll fracture her mind till it's light She'll break her own heart) -She has a self destructive personality or depression that hurts her when she is alone. because she won't let the light in-

(and you know she'll break your heart too So darling, let go of her hand) -The person being spoken to knows the dangers of loving this girl and it'll hurt them inevitably but cannot let go so is being encouraged to leave-

(She's been skipping days, spilling her drinks in the sink and you know, she's never coming home--never coming home again) -Alcoholism that she wont seem to fix and that seems like she's lost herself and there is really no chance of her changing even for the better-

(but when when when she open her eyes eyes eyes beyond the chipping paint through the windowpane) -she starts to see the light or optimism... but...-

(lies lies lies her patron saint, broken and lame and absolutely insane for learning that true love exists) -She can't believe her optimism, optimism is idiocy in her mind. She doesn't believe she can be helped. even by the person being spoken to "her patron saint" who is being hurt by sticking by her unnoticed. she still thinks that there is that perfect love but doesn't see the person she hurts-

(so darling, let go of her hand(x7) you'll be to blame for playing this game and learning that true love exists) -a repeated pleading for the person to do what they can to save themselves, a warning that a person who is too close to this sort of girl will be blamed, because this person refuses to see any fault in themselves. But the person letting go is learning what true love is-

To me, Patron Saint is about a girl who goes out and gets herself into trouble... With guys, and with alcohol, etc... And always comes home a mess. And there's a guy, a nice guy... Who loves her, and he'd never treat her the way the others have, but she sees him only as a friend. And he keeps waiting, and watching, and taking care of her when he can, until finally, watching her break herself ends up breaking him, too.

There's more at the end--- at least, in the version I have, she ends it singing: "Pain, pain--oh--pain, pain, knowing... true love exists!"

I think this song is about someone who is falling in love with a girl, even though she's a mess and the relationship is bound to be a disaster. "She'll break your heart, too"

This girl has some real problems, she's not exactly stable. "She's been pouring her drinks down the sink"-- maybe she has some kind of a eating disorder or a drinking problem. "She's been skipping days"-- she's not always there completely.

But still, no matter how much warning this guy receives, he still knows that "true love exists" even though it's broken and lame.

i can relate to this song to some degree, honestly.

i'm not going to give you my life story, but i will give you this: my boyfriend and i had a semi complicated past with eachother before we started to indulge in the present. so i don't necessarily trust him as much as i should.

and because of this, i feel like i'm breaking my own heart. because if something happens i make up these stories that have him breaking me.

when she says "she'll never come back home again" i agree with crashback2earth, when she said that it's mentally. it's like, she'll never be able to go back to that relationship that was safe and comfortable because something damaged it.

Yeah, I got the idea that she was instable as well. Very interesting interpretation, xxyulix; I never thought of that.

But yeah, when Regina says, "she's never coming home again," I could just tell she meant mentally.

Beautiful.

I can really relate to this song. I believe it is about someone who falls in love with a girl with some issues. She can't seem to love him back simply because she knows she will harm him. She is not healthy and definitely not sane. Even though he loves her she will eventually break both of their hearts. They will never be the same.

I think it's about a couple and the girl is really depressed and hates herself and so she can't really love hom properly. To me the line she'll break your heart too is talking about the fact that the girl won't let him love her because she thinks she's not good enough for him.

To me, it seems pretty clear that this is about the same thing as "Buildings," which was about how Regina's father took care of her depressed, alcoholic mother out of "true love" and his hope that she would get better one day.

" She's the kind of girl who'll smash herself down in the night "She's the kind of girl who'll fracture her mind till it's light She'll break her own heart"

^Self-destructive

"and you know that she'll break your heart too So darling, let go of her hand"

^He knows that spending his entire life cleaning up after her and carrying her burdens will break his heart. The song suggest he should "let go of her hand" and let her pull herself back together to spare his own heart.

"She's been skipping days spilling her drinks in the sink"

^She's skipping work, drinking.

"And you know she never coming home never coming home again"

^Deep inside, he knows she will never fully recover from her depression or alcoholism.

"But when, when, when she open her eyes, eyes, eyes beyond the chipping paint through the windowpane Lies, lies, lies"

^It gives him hope when she "opens her eyes" and pulls herself together for a time, but he soon finds these periods of recovery are "lies" and will never be permanent.

"Her patron saint broken and lame and absolutely insane for learning that true love exists"

^He is her "patron saint." He sacrificed his life for her benefit. He is "insane" for going to such lengths, but he does so because he knows that she is his true love.

"You'll be to blame for playing this game and learning that true love exists"

^He can only blame himself for sacrificing himself to the "game" of true love.

"The pain, the pain, the pain of knowing that true love exists"

^His love and his awareness of it has caused him lifelong pain.

This is about a girl, who has a low self esteem and is so hurt and broken.

What's the song she references with the "do do do" bit towards the end? It's driving me mad