This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Augusten, if I write something beautiful
Will it squash the hurt that’s living deep inside of you?
Augusten, are you just like me
Does your hurt fade as you write out your history?
I just want to know how you were able
To survive so long with the wolf at the table
Augusten, so you were hiding in the forest
With your love still laid out before him
Augusten, with that love stuck inside
How did you ever sleep at night?
I just want to know how you were able
To survive so long with the wolf at the table
Augusten, tell me how were you able
To control the urge to kill the wolf at the table?
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Augusten, do you struggle for the words?
Does the right way to put it sometimes hurt?
Augusten, am I just like you?
Could I ever truly know what I would do?
I just want to know how you were able
To survive so long with the wolf at the table
Augusten, tell me how were you able
To control the urge to kill the wolf at the table?
His love, his love, his love
His love, his love, his love
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
One, two, three, four
His love right out the door
One, two, three, four
His love right out the door
One, two, three, four
His love right out the door
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Will it squash the hurt that’s living deep inside of you?
Augusten, are you just like me
Does your hurt fade as you write out your history?
I just want to know how you were able
To survive so long with the wolf at the table
Augusten, so you were hiding in the forest
With your love still laid out before him
Augusten, with that love stuck inside
How did you ever sleep at night?
I just want to know how you were able
To survive so long with the wolf at the table
Augusten, tell me how were you able
To control the urge to kill the wolf at the table?
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Augusten, do you struggle for the words?
Does the right way to put it sometimes hurt?
Augusten, am I just like you?
Could I ever truly know what I would do?
I just want to know how you were able
To survive so long with the wolf at the table
Augusten, tell me how were you able
To control the urge to kill the wolf at the table?
His love, his love, his love
His love, his love, his love
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
One, two, three, four
His love right out the door
One, two, three, four
His love right out the door
One, two, three, four
His love right out the door
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh
His love, his love you spoke of
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Lyrics submitted by jevole, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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They did this thing for Spin Magazine together with Augusten reading some excerpts from his book and Tegan playing "His Love" and some The Con songs. You can find some videos of it on youtube.
The entire time I read Wolf at the Table, this song played in the back of my head. After reading the book, I can't hear the song without getting emotional. It's really a wonderfully written albeit terrifying account of his sadistic father, and I think this song nailed it.