Pneumonia

test

test "test"

-I have this problem where I'm already measuring how you'll react -Before I even finish what I was gonna say -I dance around my thoughts like they're a fire -And if I order my steps in just the right sequence I could make it rain

The guy knows everything he says could set his significant other off and make make them cry because he is in a dying relationship that is just waiting for the breakup. 

-And it isn't a joke, or some poem I wrote -It's the shadow tracing back to every word I spoke -Burn brighter, if you can't fix the house that you were born into -Well, put a match to work and see what fire can do

The guy is saying he couldn't fix his relationship so he is saying something to end it. What he is saying (the non-joke-song) is a consequence (shadow) of of his decision to end (burn) the relationship (broken house). 

-Cut cleaner, if the hanging fray causes you to cling to the old -ways and means and methods then the knife was too dull -And so the lesson becomes how you fix a problem -Can yield a grimmer consequence than what you kept from

You gotta actually break up because if you are sloppy about it and try to half-ass it then instead of having a bad relationship youll have a bad breakup and youll end up trying to deal with the breakup which is worse (grimmer consequences) than dealing with a bad relationship. 

-A full measure shaken down, spilled over was the cup I had drawn -Took me one little tumble and the thing was half gone -Half-full is a fool's assessment when the ledger is red -And the deficit is only ever making ahead

A cup "spilling over" is when you have lots of blessings so he's saying the relationship was really good. The cup is also a tarot card suit (associated with love and relationships) that you can "draw" when having your fortune told so he's saying he got lucky to have a good relationship at the start. He did something wrong and ruined the relationship. He wants to be optimistic about it (the cup is half full) but it's not good. When a ledger is "in the red" that is when you're losing money. The relationship is only getting worse too. 

-My soul held a measure and the ledger was null -My feet found a dry place to count in the cold -It's all coming due now

His soul (not his mind) found out the relationship is broke before he even realized it. The dry place contrasts with making it rain in the first stanza meaning he had to find a time when no one was crying. What's coming due is the breakup. 

-I felt my sorrow pulling in on the fabric of days -All of time bunched up, converging like a senator's blade -And my mind raced over all of everything that happened then -But it halted at the thought of things about to begin"

Before he was about to breakup (the thing about to begin) he suddenly thought about the entire relationship and hesitated. 

-Cause my mind held a ledger and my credits were full -When my feet set to walking out all too alone -And my heart held a ledger and my credits were full -When my feet found a soapbox to stand in the cold

When he starts the breakup conversation (walk out, find the soapbox) his mind and his heart (not his soul) sees that the relationship isnt broke. 

-Now how about one goes on one's own -Saying "hey babe, this place ain't so cold" -Well don't you know, there's only one of ya -You just might end up with pneumonia"

He starts saying breaking up is a good idea but then tries to change his mind. 

-And about how one might slow one's roll -To an amount down to faking control -Well I guess that would depend on it -The kind of time you want to spend on it"

This is either his soul saying that if he doesn't end the relationship then he will have to spend a lot of time pretending that that's okay, or it is his mind and heart saying that if he does end the relationship then he will have to spend a lot of time pretending that that's okay. 

-Stand-offing often pays off, but I am pondering well -Might be stepping down wasn't really so low -When my feet found a soapbox to stand in the cold -And my lungs were full"

He tried to stop the breakup (step down from the soapbox) and he is rationalizing that it was an okay decision to change his mind about it.  

-My tongue held a ledger and my credits were full -When my feet found a soapbox to stand in the cold -My tongue held a ledger and my credits were full -Consequences of grandstanding in the cold"

 He started the breakup (grandstanding on the soapbox) but then tried to chang his mind. His tongue sided with his mind and heart (and against his soul) that the relationship wasn't broke. 

-And when it comes to gallows humor it's a slippery slope -You see you never ask a hangman to show you the ropes -I know you meant it as a "ha ha ha" -You just might end up with a twiney collar"

He tried to pretend that his breakup conversation was just a joke (gallows humor) but it didnt work and he accidentally ended the relationship despite his heart and mind and tongue deciding that it wasn't broke. 

-Now about how one goes on one's own -Saying "hey babe, this place ain't so cold" -Well don't you know there's only one of ya -You'll only end up with pneumonia"

Too late to change his mind now.