No Rest

"I used to be a king alone Like Solomon or Rehoboam And in the eaves, the Corvidae Did jealous keep my picture frames And everything did oxidate in place"

like norangelsordemons said, he's comparing himself to kings who were alone before they met the loves of their lives. and how he felt at home like that, like corvidae do to eaves. he then asks "did jealous keep my picture frames?" because while he feels like "everything did oxidate in place" he can't help but feel lonely. it's like the saying "if you look up ___ in the dictionary, you'll find my picture"

"But then you came, a single cell With astrolabe and carousel And algebra and symmetry And none of this was lost on me And I could see how still I'd been before"

enters someone whom he falls madly in love with. they show him "astrolabe and carousel and algebra and symmetry" and unlike before, with anyone else he's come across, he notices it all in this person; "and none of this was lost on me" and he sees how "still" he's been, as in, what he had been missing by being alone. this person brings color and shapes and movement to his normally "still" life. they make him see things differently.

"If I don't eat, I don't sleep at all Like limbs in procession, Like so many birds Stampeding like oxen, Our hearts are a herd"

he's been alone for so long, he doesn't know how to love. he thinks it's supposed to natural, like eating or sleeping. he thinks it to be be orderly, and that love will follow step by step; "like limbs in procession", "like so many birds stampeding like oxen, our hearts are a herd" but as most of us know, love is chaotic and far from orderly.

"I loved you in the bed I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the bed"

i'm thinking, somehow, someway, he got this person into bed, and he thinks he's loving them in "the best way possible". again, he's not all that sure when it comes to "love", but he could probably SHOW how he feels and the only way he thought he could do that was through sex.

"Did you see the light in my heart? Did you see the sweat on my brow? Did you see the fear in my heart? Did you see me bleeding out?"

the other person took it as just that; sex. they didn't think anything more, but he's begging now, for them to see differently, asking if they saw "the light" in his heart: his love "the sweat on my brow": how hard he was working to make them feel his love. "the fear in my heart" how afraid he was of letting this person see him like that and him "bleeding out", which is, again, him professing his love through physical intimacy.

"I loved you in the bed I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the best"

here he is, again, sounding the most desperate he's sounded throughout the entire song. he's pleading for them to see that he loved them the only way he knew how, which is, ultimately, the best way he could.

I used to be a king alone Like Solomon or Rehoboam And in the eaves, the Corvidae Did jealous keep my picture frames And everything did oxidate in place.

Solomon and Rehoboam are rich kings famous for having numerous concubines. Rehoboam is the son of Solomon, and was ruthless and warlike while Solomon was wise. The only other thing they have in common, other than their concubines, is their wealth. These kings are presented in this poem as alone, yet they are among many lovers. If they are alone among many lovers, that means that they didn't entrust their love to any of their numerous concubines/lovers. The Corvidae, the crows, ravens, and other black birds, guard the pictures of his former lovers jealously in the eaves of his mind. That is, his memories of his former lovers are guarded by grim black birds. Probably these are sexual memories. Eventually, his memories oxidate (rust) in place. Meaning that these jealously guarded memories become worthless as they fade, and particularly they're worthless in his loneliness.

But then you came, a single cell With astrolabe and carousel And algebra and symmetry And none of this was lost on me And I could see how still I'd been before

Then she comes, a single person, a single cell, not a number of lovers. Breaking his polyamorous tendencies. She uses the astrolabe and determines their position according to the stars, and the carousel is for having fun. Though carousels are also for kids, and mechanical in nature. She's a dreamer (using the stars for navigation), but also intelligent and rational, keeping life in balance (algebra is the art of balancing equations) and with symmetry.

If I don't eat, I don't sleep at all Like limbs in procession, Like so many birds Stampeding like oxen, Our hearts are a herd

If he doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep. Interesting. He's an insomniac perhaps. Maybe eating is a metaphor for sex. Maybe he can't sleep without sex. Either way, fasting from something keeps his eyes open and gives him insomnia. Maybe he's saying that he's not eating because he misses her so much. "Limbs in procession" surely is sex, a twining together of limbs. Their hearts are like birds taking wing, together, in a herd, their hearts thundering like oxen. Definitely sexual imagery here. Notice that his "birds," aka, the Corvidae, his memories of his past sexual partners, are taking wing. Here, birds are represented as their emotions or their hearts moving together.

I loved you in the bed I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the bed

Here, he's making clear that his sexuality, the way he loved her, is the best way to love a person. He understands sex to be the currency of love.

Did you see the light in my heart? Did you see the sweat on my brow? Did you see the fear in my heart? Did you see me bleeding out?

Here, he presents his sexual response to her, his sexual labor, as proof of his love for her. The light in his eye, the sweat on his brow, and then, the fear in his heart as he "bleeds out," a metaphor for a heart that's bleeding in love, but also a metaphor for ejaculation. He is afraid of loving her. Perhaps his fears were the reason why she now doubts his love, and he is forced to write this song as proof of his love.

I loved you in the bed I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the best way possible I loved you in the best,

Again, he repeats that his love in the bed is the proof of his love. All his other birds took wing and flew away while he loved her. This song is offered to her as proof of his love. One con only presume it's written because she doubts his love.

He is obviously comparing himself to kings from the bible 'I used to be a king alone Like Solomon or Rehoboam' and in the story of Solomon and Sheba goes that they both had great wisdom and when they met they fell in love and the whole chapter Song Of Songs is about how much they love each other. But before Sheba came he was alone all his life but God provided him with all he needed 'And everything did oxidate in place' but love wasnt enough for Sheba and Solomon is asking why 'Did you see the light in my heart?'

With astral nights and calcite= with astrolabe and carousel. reference to navigation and ships.

"I loved you in the bed I loved you in the best way possible" I love this part because it just sound so desperate, like saying that he gave her everything (they even had sex which he sees as the ultimate sign of his love for her, as if the fact that they had sex should mean something monumental and she doesn't see it like that ) and the way it's repeated- as if he is so desperately trying to convince her of his love and the song ends with him still trying to convince her of how hard he tried to show her his love until he finishes on that final word, as if he has given up (sometimes i think i look too deeply into songs...)

Sometimes in music (when it's done right- not like in some of the ghastly pop songs we see on TV where they are just trying to fill the time ) repetition can be incredibly powerful

To me it seems to be about a man who was perfectly happy by himself until he fell in love. However, when that great love ends he cannot understand why when he feels he has loved her in the best way possible, how could she want more? He questions how she could see him suffer but still leave him anyway - 'did you see me bleeding out?'.