Fire Escape

@missa809 YES!! A fire escape that's slick with rain water is a dangerous proposition. If you try to climb down, you're bound to get hurt. In chaos, you (the listener) aren't left with many sage choices — essentially, you either stay in a room filled with smoke and fire, or attempt escape on a wet ladder that's just as likely to cause you to fall, slip, and get hurt. Do you walk through fire to get out of a burning room? Or do you take your chances on a rain-soaked fire escape? Metaphorically or otherwise, this story does not have a happy ending.<br /> <br /> The speaker in this song expresses constant skepticism: he doesn't take sides or even know what side he's on (read: he's loyal to no one and nothing, his ideals and relationships can turn on a whim); he has no plans for his immediate or long-term future because "I don't know where I'm going to." The speaker senses that the person he's addressing has some expectations from him ("I may not be the man you want me to") — but, to me, the truest expression of his doubts is when he admits "I don't know about you." And he doesn't say if this conversation is an introduction — or if the speaker and listener were already intimate for some time and he's only now opening up about who he really is inside. He tells the listener all of the things he doesn't want to do or play at or be in their dynamic: "I don't wanna / I don't know / I don't want." His sole affirmative declaration? "I can be myself." But he won't be your escape or your pleasure. The entire song is basically a warning not to get too close because the speaker will be the rain on your fire escape: treacherous, a shaky proposition, a bad idea. I'm so glad that someone all these years ago recognized the metaphor for what I see it as a cautionary tale the kind of person who will smash your heart and then shrug as they claim, "Well, I warned you from the beginning."