God Help This Divorce

The sun sets for so long on these streets So many beautiful faces that don’t need me

Papers and little useless things Slide down along the pavement away from me

Taking my tea in silence Telling strange jokes to myself

God help this divorce, God help this divorce

She was a beauty queen But, I held her down, down, down I held her down, down, down I held her, I held her

Me without a family Yeah, I held her down, down, down I held her down, down, down I held her, I held her

Go to the bar and say semi-sexist things

Taking my tea in silence Telling strange jokes to myself

God help this divorce, God help this divorce

She was a beauty queen But, I held her down, down, down I held her down, down, down I held her, I held her

Me without a family Yeah, I held her down, down, down I held her down, down, down I held her, I held her

"The sun sets for so long on these streets So many beautiful faces that don’t need me"

-First of all, it's kinda obvious this guy is getting a divorce. He realizes that he isn't needed in the relationship, whether it's his fault or her fault is not clear yet, but the decision that he is not needed is clear. I'm going to guess, however, that he was the one that decided the divorce.

"Papers and little useless things Slide down along the pavement away from me" -He doesn't have to worry about paying bills that deal with his wife, so that's why they slide down the pavement AWAY from him.

"Taking my tea in silence Telling strange jokes to myself

God help this divorce, God help this divorce" -He's at peace, but also somewhat lonely because he's telling jokes to himself.

"She was a beauty queen But, I held her down, down, down I held her down, down, down I held her, I held her

Me without a family Yeah, I held her down, down, down I held her down, down, down I held her, I held her" -Here it is very clear that it was her fault they got a divorce. He tried his best to be there for her, no matter the occassion.

"Go to the bar and say semi-sexist things" -He starts drinking because he's angry, and curses at his ex-wife by using sexist phrases.

Everything else is the same as before. So he got a divorce, she had a lot of good things going for her, he didn't, but he had to let go of her.

A man still in love with his wife, ruefully cooperating in their divorce and feeling bad for himself, blaming himself.

"She was a beauty queen but I held her down" meaning he held her back from enjoying the life she could have had without him. This is only his own interpretation, the tone of the song makes me think he is being too hard on himself but is not self-aware enough to see it.

His self confidence is too low to fight back, he blames himself, he sees "beautiful faces" and takes it for granted that they are not interested in him because he has no self-worth.

A very sad song with a beautiful melody, a nice, bittersweet juxtaposition.