Ever Since New York

Personally, this song seems to me to be a recount of losing Robin, Harry’s stepfather, to cancer, and a memoir almost about the deterioration of his health. Allow me to explain.

“Tell me something, tell me something”

Harry is away a lot, but he wants news on his stepfather’s well-being. He wants updates.

“You don’t know nothing, just pretend you do”

More specifically, Harry wants good news. The doctor, his family, cannot provide that, simply because there is none. He asks that they “just pretend”.

“I need something, tell me something new”

He wants updates on Robin’s progress. There hasn’t been much good progress and he needs something, even something small, to give him hope for progress.

“Choose your words cause, there’s no antidote for this curse”

There isn’t a cure for cancer. Choose your words as in, careful how you speak about what’s happening. Hope is damaging, there’s no cure, but speaking as fact about Robin’s end is too painful to hear.

“What’s it waiting for? Must this hurt you, just before you go?”

The cancer is going to eventually take him, why is it dragging so much, causing so much pain? Harry wishes Robin’s last days, of which are now determined, would at least be a beautiful memorable goodbye, but they are not.

“Brooklyn saw me, empty at the news”

Harry was in Brooklyn when he heard of Robin’s deterioration, sure this was the end.

“There’s no water inside this swimming pool”

He has no tears left to cry. There’s no hope left either, no emotion. He has been rinsed through the process.

“Almost over, had enough from you”

Robin is almost over. Harry’s had enough from the cancer and the pain.

“I’ve been praying, I never did before Understand I’m talking to the walls”

Harry doesn’t typically pray, but he’s desperate for Robin to get some sort of turn around. Hence, he’s talking to the walls, begging for the angels to send help.

“I’ve been praying, ever since New York”

New York was perhaps Harry’s whereabouts when he first heard of Robin’s diagnosis.

“Oh tell me something I don’t already know”

Harry wants to hear something other than the clichès and the sad news from doctors.

“Tell me something just before you go”

Harry wants something memorable to keep for himself before Robin passes away.

I think this song is about a relationship that's going downhill fast. He's making a final attempt at connecting with the other person. He's essentially giving them one last chance to say anything that actually means something before he leaves.