In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
A home removed, a life resumed right here
The Priest and the Rosary,
The book and the bond between he and me has long since broken
A boy who’s grown, too short to see,
A tale unfolds, too tall to be
A life once lived behind closed doors, the irony of the pensive whore
Touch, taste, feel it ripping me down
A reprise, two times, the dime, burn it to the ground
The inquiry of Ms. Terri,
The expiry of misery,
The table turns the sun long,
The river bed, and he’s alone
The object of affection,
Conflicted by convictions of indecency, sorority,
Corrupted by impropriety
The cavalier, she hopes of him,
In dissonance with experience,
A boy who grows, with knife in hand,
To fend for her, becomes a man
But she plays fake affection, and carefully lacks objection
To her gentleman caller's twisted desires
Touch, taste, feel it ripping me down.
A reprise, two times, the dime, burn it to the ground.
We dance around the room,
My love, I’ll carry you,
And I’ll teach you how to treat
That Leading lady that you'll meet
We dance around the truth,
My dear, I lie for you,
But when I lie down,
I’m simply lying to them too
The Priest and the Rosary,
The book and the bond between he and me has long since broken
A boy who’s grown, too short to see,
A tale unfolds, too tall to be
A life once lived behind closed doors, the irony of the pensive whore
Touch, taste, feel it ripping me down
A reprise, two times, the dime, burn it to the ground
The inquiry of Ms. Terri,
The expiry of misery,
The table turns the sun long,
The river bed, and he’s alone
The object of affection,
Conflicted by convictions of indecency, sorority,
Corrupted by impropriety
The cavalier, she hopes of him,
In dissonance with experience,
A boy who grows, with knife in hand,
To fend for her, becomes a man
But she plays fake affection, and carefully lacks objection
To her gentleman caller's twisted desires
Touch, taste, feel it ripping me down.
A reprise, two times, the dime, burn it to the ground.
We dance around the room,
My love, I’ll carry you,
And I’ll teach you how to treat
That Leading lady that you'll meet
We dance around the truth,
My dear, I lie for you,
But when I lie down,
I’m simply lying to them too
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I'm Fairly Positive that the story goes from Battesimo del Fuoco, him being born as his mother dies. so Ms.Terri isn't the his mother, and if you look at the lyrics in City Escape, we realize that Ms.Terri is in fact his mother's killer. I believe that his mother tried to make an escape from the brothel because she knew she was with child, and was stopped. Ms. Terri then took him in and this song is about him loving her as a mother, but her basically being a caniving whore. The way she was described in City Escape leads me to believe she was higher up in the harlot ranks than most giving her some type of motive. Anyway:
"A hope removed, a life resumed right here. And the Priest and the Rosary, the book and the bond between me and me has long since broken. A boy who's grown, too short to see, a tale unfolds, too tall to see. A life once lived behind closed doors, the irony of a pensive heart."
This line starts out talking about his mother's failed escape from the brothel in City Escape. He is taken back to the city where he is raised ignorant to the plans that she's made for him. And It's pretty ironic what shows up for him in Act: II so i guess that sums up the last line.
"Touch, taste, feel it ripping me down. A reprise, two times, the dime, burn it to the ground."
The chorus basically shows Ms.Terri's disdain for the brothel. Everything about it is disgusting to her and she would much prefer if it weren't standing.
"The inquiry of Ms.Terri, the expiry of misery, the table turns, the sun long, the river bed, and he's alone. The object of affection, conflicted by convictions of indecency, sorority, corrupted by impropriety. The cavalier, she holds of him, in dissonance with experience, a boy who grows, with knife in hand, to fend for her, becomes a man. But she plays fake affection, and carefully lacks subjection, to the gentleman callers twisted desires."
What I get here is that working at a brothel isn't all that it's cracked up to be, so she's going to use this boy she's treating like her son to takee down the brothel for her because, again, she's a caniving whore. (I don't understand how people get anyything but "the inquiry of Ms.Terri" in the beginning. it is the name of the song after all.)
"Touch, taste, feel it ripping me down. A reprise, two times, that time, burn it to the ground.
"We dance around the room, my love I'll carry you, and I'll teach you how to treat that Leading Lady you'll meet. We dance around the truth, my dear I lie for you, but when I lie down, I'm simply lying to them too. "
Is that some foreshadowing I see in the first line? Of course it is. Ms. Leading before we were wondering about the meaning all things regarding her. Wow, Ms.Terri seems to have it all planned out at this point. She obviously has no intention of telling him the truth and will keep up her fake feelings for him and obviously she's faking orgasms...or she doesn't give a damn about her clients.