Folkin' Around

{"By the time your father's heard of all the wrong you've done, then I'm putting out the lantern."} ---> The narrator and the woman are intimate, unbeknownst to the woman's father, who would disapprove.

{"By the time your father's heard of all the wrong you've done, then I'm putting out the lantern. Find your own way back home... If love is not enough to put my enemies to sleep, then I'm putting out the lantern. Find your own way back home."} ---> There are a number of possibilities. A. The narrator may be putting a lantern outside so that the woman can find her way home and find her way back to him. That makes me think of the expression 'Follow your own path,' which means to think things through and make your own informed decisions, independent of what others want. B. The narrator may be putting the lantern outside in front of his home so that the woman can find his home easily the next time she returns. The reason the narrator isn't going to her home is because the woman's father disapproves. C. The narrator may be putting out the light in the lantern in a rushed way and either taking the lantern himself or handing it to the woman. In that scenario, they would either be hanging out away from both of their homes or at the narrator's home; and the woman has to get home either before the father heads their way or before he notices his daughter's absence. D. The narrator may be putting out the light in the lantern so that the woman can't find him by following the light. Maybe he doesn't want her to find him, or maybe he does but she has to do it all by herself to prove her feelings.

{"I'm putting out the lantern. Find your own way back home."} ---> Characters carrying lanterns are common symbols of that person being someone else's 'guiding light' (a person who helps others 'find their way' literally and/or metaphorically). In this case, the narrator is the one who is guiding the relationship, because the lantern is his. The expression 'inner light' refers to a person's creativity and optimism. If the narrator literally puts out the light in the lantern, then each time he does, his hope is somewhat diminished. The narrator has 'lost his way' literally (in the darkness, either without a lantern or without a lit lantern) and metaphorically (meaning he became someone he didn't want to be).

{"...where summers lasted longer than... we do... Where nothing really mattered, except for me to be with you. But in time we all forgot and we all grew."} ---> People tend to lose track of time and realize that they missed out on a lot of things that they wanted to do or experience. As time passes a person by, he/she tends to lose track of the small, simple things that used to be the most important thing in the world to him/her. When that happens, life feels more complicated and less beautiful. Since the memories are of summertime, that means the couple was preoccupied with other things more often than not during the other seasons of the year.

{"Allow me to exaggerate a memory or two, where summers lasted longer... than we do. Where nothing really mattered, except for me to be with you. But in time we all forgot and we all grew."} ---> As they grow older, they notice more complex issues in the relationship. However, the narrator doesn't want to remember those issues, and has exaggerated memories of the good parts of the relationship. He may not have been able to see how the relationship really was (part of its downfall) or he may have blocked a lot of bad memories from his mind.

{"Your melody sounds as sweet as the first time it was sung, with a little bit more character for show."} ---> The melody would be moans and/or the woman saying the same romantic cliches time and time again ("I love you," "You're the best thing that ever happened to me," "I'm so lucky to have you," etc.). In the moaning scenario, the extra character for show would be the woman exaggerating the moans. In the romantic lines scenario, the extra character for show would be the woman slightly tweaking the romantic lines to sound more genuine, either sincerely or because she doesn't know what she likes about him and has to resort to scripted dialogue.

{"If I've forgotten how to sing before I sung this song, I'll write it all across the wall before my job is done."} ---> The narrator wants the woman to know exactly how he feels before the relationship is over. The "song" may be a 'swan song,' which means a final gesture, often a grand final gesture. The expression, 'The writing's on the wall' means failure is inevitable and the parties involved are aware of that (but are often in denial).

{"I'll even have the courtesy of admitting I was wrong, as the final words before I'm dead and gone."} ---> The phrase 'Dead and gone' means something that's still going on actually ended a long time ago. In this case, the narrator's professions of love are dead and gone, so the woman seems to not think about what the narrator said and did after he said and did them. The narrator also implies that he's going to love the woman until the day he dies.

{"You've never been so divine in accepting your defeat, and I've never been more scared to be alone."} ---> The woman either gracefully bows out of the relationship due to lack of feelings, or stays in the relationship but gives up hope really easily for the first time. Either scenario shocks and terrifies the narrator.

{"If love is not enough to put my enemies to sleep, then I'm putting out the lantern."} The expression 'putting enemies to sleep' means to get problems out of the way, but it implies that the problems themselves are not resolved. This tells me that the relationship DIDN'T end, but that the same relationship problems are still there.