Betrayal

I took it to mean that she had betrayed him. Although the you refers (at least most of the time) to the guy, the song focuses a little more on her.

This song is another genius song by Jon Foreman. There isn't a betrayal in this song. In fact, there are 3 betrayals. First, the friend, if I can call him that, betrays the central character. Second, you see that the woman betrayed the friend by leading him to do something he didn't want to do. Finally, (this is the best part of all) the character in his death betrays them all because instead of suffering into death, his numbness turns their evil deeds back on themselves. So cool!

What I get from this song is that he is talking to EITHER his best friend or his BROTHER...

It is a classic example of his best friend/brother betraying him for what John calls "The wolf in women's clothes".

AWESOME portrayal of how he doesn't blame his friend/brother, but he points the finger at the girl... because I LOVE how he says "It's women that make enemies of men..."

Jon... you are a GENIUS!!!

He was betrayed by the two people who meant most to him....his lover and his closest friend, be it a brother or just a friend. It seems to like he just assumes that, yeah she hurt him, but that's what women do. The real betrayal was the friend, who he never expected it from.

Being a girl, I don't necessarily agree with that idea, but I love the song still. ;-)

i think that his betrayal came mostly from his lover. his friend fell in love with her and took her a way and i think that the gunshot is a metaphor like her leaving with his best friend felt like he had just taken a bullet and his friend taking her away from him felt like his death, but in the end he wouldn't let either of them win because he just allowed himself to go numb so he wouldn't feel the pain. i also think that the wallet might symbolize something perhaps his heart that she left with his heart still belonging to her.

So, correct me if I'm wrong… I think the song mainly talks about Jon being betrayed by his girlfriend and his best friend.

The first verse is pretty self explanatory…

“You and I were always closest friends…” Is talking about the two friends. “...It's women that make enemies of men…” Is talking about how pretty girls are the main cause of rivalry between men because it then goes on to say, ”A pretty face, a pretty face...A pretty face would one day do me in…”

I don't really understand the next verse but I guess it's about how the guy was always suspicious of the girl when he started dating her because she seemed to keep a lot from him and was very secretive…

“She came to me in middle afternoon...We held each other close the whole night through…” I think this is talking about how the girl came to him and either seduced him into doing dirty things or she came to him and was acting all sad to make him feel bad for her and cause him to hold her close all night until he eventually fell asleep. This is when Jon says that, “...Love is blind…” Because he finds out that the girl had been playing him the whole time and then he goes on to sing, “...I never saw her let you in the room…” He was talking about his best friend who had betrayed him just like his girlfriend had…

“Someone always wins, and then they write a book...I sing my defense, fingering a different crook…” I really don't understand this verse at all…

The next two verses could be portrayed literally or figuratively…

“A gunshot was the only word you said, And all of my defenses came out red...Love is red, love is red...She left with you, you left me lying dead…”

Portrayed literally: The friend ended up shooting the guy, he didn't even say a word, he just shot him without saying anything. I think (Wild guess) what he means by defenses meant his excuses for choosing the girl over his best friend. And they came out red as in his blood from the bullet wound. Then it says, “She left with you, you left me lying dead…” Which obviously means that the friend left him there and the girl followed the friend.

Taken figuratively: The best friend came in and started saying things that felt like a gunshot to the guy and I don't know how to explain the defenses part. Then when the guy leaves, the girl acts like the victim and leaves with the friend instead of defending the guy.

“So I watched her as you put me in the dirt...She had my wallet tucked inside her skirt...And I went numb, I went numb...So I'm not dead if what you did don't hurt.”

Pictured literally: The “friend” went back and got the body of the guy and started to bury him. And I think the guy was watching his “friend” bury his body, from heaven and he saw the girl snatch his wallet off his body and hide it in her skirt. He was betrayed, but he didn't feel and emotion, he was just numb...He closes up with saying, “So I'm not dead if what you did don't hurt.”

Portrayed figuratively: I think the friend went back to accuse him of more wrongdoing and the girl sits by and doesn't do anything to defend the guy at all. The guy came to his senses and decided to not think so much of it because he knows he did nothing wrong, so he felt numb as he was being wrongly accused and said, “So I'm not dead, if what you did don't hurt.”

Hoped I helped out as much as I could...

Might I suggest that the "friend" who assist thew woman in betraying the man is the devil? Just the way the lines written about him and her being together the whole night through and he never saw her let "you" in the room. I always think about the saying when theres just a guy and a girl alone Satan is the third one present. So Jons saying the girl let the devil in and he is the source of her corruption and betrayal.