The Devil In Stitches

I see it as a story of two people in love who decide to take off on their own, leaving everything they know behind. The beginning, obviously, introduces this girl who blows the young man away. This part:

"So don't look homeward angel from that rumble seat I can strum twice and make it all go away,"

as well as the repeated mention of dancing/running across the yellow sun, evokes images for me of the two of them driving through the desert together, yellow sun in the sky, not wanting to look back (for those unaware, a "rumble seat" is the fold-out back seat that cars used to have in the 1930s, probably used with some creative license here). He's head-over-heels for her, and wants to escape whatever their lives were previously and find something new and different and better.

The last stanza I'm not entirely sure of, but to me it suggests that at the end of their journey, they reach a cliff:

"I know he drove her out out to the brink That's where they stood and looked down"

My interpretation of what happens next (and this may be pretty contentious) is that they jump.

"Right then he made a decision That's where they made a division Declaring war on the weather A reckless pact with forever So come on and sing Sing hallelujah Right now."

He makes the decision that they can't go back to where they were before. "That's where they made a division" may be a playful way of saying they separated themselves from the cliff they stood on (or perhaps something greater, like dividing themselves from the rest of society) and made "a reckless pact with forever" (which may be death, or whatever you think happens next). "Sing hallelujah" sort of fits in with the suggestion that they gave themselves up to death, or whatever else.

Ironically, the one thing I don't get a clear meaning from is the "devil in stitches" bit. It evokes a bit of Americana imagery for me, which is enhanced by the musical feel of the song, but I don't have a concise literary explanation for it.

Sounds like a love song. kindof

maybe its a metaphor for the 7 deadly sins that cloak our state of mind that all people fall victim too. no im not a beleiver in got but heres what i think it means.

first stanza:

this guy fell for some pretty chick that was playing hard to get and eventually they dated or what ever. the "pawn shop eyes" could be a metaphor for her greed which is another sin.

second stanza:

So don't look homeward angel from that rumble seat I can strum twice and make it all go away We'll tap every last drop until that beating stops

could be about how he gave into that greed cuz he was so blinded by lust that im gessing it was pittiful.

third stanza:

this is saying that she keeps a distant life from him and so hes thinking about leaving her and such and she knows this, so the 'darling i love you madily" is just to intice him some more.

fourth stanza:

might be about how everything eventually fell apart. she sucked him dry from greed and maybe he didnt want to deal with it anymore of he was overcame by lust for another woman.

fith stanza:

could be about how how they realized their faults and just said screw it or possible went to go try and fix what they had. this is a really tough song to interperit.

I feel like its attacking the certain type of punk or alternative culture that is about the chaos and the fun and the emotion, but misses the message and the politics. Its about distractions "I can strum twice and make it all go away" "She was living on the edge of a knife His head was filled with restless ghosts It's so easy to love a bringer of destruction" Losing yourself to a dangerous and ultimately useless spiral of destruction.

"We'll run while devil in stitches goes and has his fun" The laughter of the establishment as we get caught up in ourselves.

I feel like this song is about the book Look Homeward, Angel (not because it says that). If you've read the book, you'd know that some lines represent characters.