Hold Your Tongue

"I just know that her heart once soaked and cursed Is that much harder to set on fire"

I think she's been hurt by someone else so badly before that she's incapable of loving him the way that he loves her. He says the things and means them, she says them but there's no real feeling behind it. Maybe she wants to mean them but her past experiences mean she just can't? I think this shows in the lines "How could I be the one? If you're wrapped round someone else?" - she's not necessarily wrapped around another person, more what they did to her. It's made her unable to feel the same way about him.

I think the first 2 verses show how, since her damaging experience, she's relied on her looks to get her by romantically. I think she's also a nice person- people are drawn to her and fall for her, yet when they try and find some mutual feeling they just can't. Like her heart's been left cold and, as Frank says, can't be set on fire.

It doesn't seem that he's simply angry with her, he feels sad for her. I interpret the last 4 lines of the song as meaning that he kinda wants to make sure she's human... that even beyond her damaging experiences she hasn't been completely destroyed and is capable of feeling remorse for the way he cheated on her. Even though he doesn't like her for what she's done, I think he can kinda see why she did it... she feels she same kind of hurt he does, except she feels it all the time and it's taken it's toll on her, leaving her desensitized to other peoples' pain.

"Been pretty since the day you were born Sow the roots of your beautiful hair"

• She's spent her whole life with the notion that being pretty defines her and she 'sowed the roots' of this notion in that she invested all her efforts into bettering herself physically.

"Drew all the water that your body could hold So when your soul needed water No water was there"

• Continues the plant metaphor and notes that her focus on her external features meant that the internal features (her soul) were neglected.

"You shed words like so much dead skin They gather up like dust against walls They kick up when someone comes in So if they're looking for something they find nothing at all"

• She doesn't see the value of meaningful/intellectual conversation because she grew up with such shallow ideals. So while people all adore her at first, if anyone actually 'comes in' (ie get inside her mind/soul) they find nothing, she has nothing unique or interesting about her, internally.

"So hold your goddamn tongue You forget yourself How could I be the one? If you're wrapped round someone else?"

• Brings new meaning to the 'shed words' and 'when someone comes in' from the last part, as we find that she's actually been caught in bed wrapped around someone else, and is 'shedding words' of explanation. Frank (or the persona) is saying 'Hold your goddamn tongue', as in 'how dare you even try to justify yourself.. or tell me I'm the one!'. [Open to interpretation, 'wrapped round' could just mean an infatuation]

"And I really don't know which feels worse To be a fool or be with a liar"

• He's questioning whether he would've preferred to have found out that she was cheating or not. Finding out makes him feel like 'a fool', but if he'd not found out then he'd be happy, but with 'a liar'.

"I just know that her heart once soaked and cursed Is that much harder to set on fire"

• Here he's not talking about her, but him. He's saying that even though finding out might have been for the best, he's now been so damaged by the revelation that he's not sure if he'll ever trust another girl enough to fall in love again (have his heart 'set on fire').

"But I won't let this die Til I have seen you cry A single tear to show There's water in your soul"

• Even after all they've been through and with all the pain she's now caused him, he's never seen her show any depth, never seen her show true emotion, not 'a single tear', which reflects that she's still just completely shallow and superficial. He finishes by returning to the plant metaphor and implying that a tear would show that her soul has had at least some growth through her life, that it even exists.

And I really don't know which feels worse To be a fool or be with a liar I just know that her heart once soaked and cursed Is that much harder to set on fire But I won't let this die Til I have seen you cry A single tear to show There's water in your soul

Clear what this songs means, I think..

The girl he was with led him on and told him all these things, like he was the one for her, but then cheated on him. He hates himself, but cant decide which is worse, being cheated on by her, or for trusting her.

Thats the way I see it. Lol