This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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I agree with most of what's been posted here, and I want to add a few comments that I don't think anyone's explored (my apologies is someone has).
First, this is clearly a song from a friend or confidant to a man who refuses to commit. But I read it as being directed toward a middle-aged or older man, not a young man. I'll get to the reasons why I think so shortly. Let's take a walk through the lyrics:
Pretty obvious start. The Desperado has refused to make a decision (he's "been out ridin' fences for so long now.") He's set in his ways ("you're a hard one") and he's pursuing things that, in the end, don't make him very happy. ("These things that are pleasin' you [money, alcohol, sex, drugs, maybe even hobbies or distractions] can hurt you somehow.")
These distractions are personified by the Queen of Diamonds. She glitters. She's money. She's sex. She's beautiful and alluring. But the Queen of Hearts (love personified) is a better bet.
"Some fine things have been laid upon your table." The Desperado has options but always wants something that is out of reach.
OK, here's where I read things differently than other listeners. "Desperado, you ain't gettin' no younger. Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home." When do we say, poetically, that someone has gone home? When they die. I would paraphrase this verse as, "You're getting old. All this pain and hunger is going to kill you."
After the next, pretty obvious line, he reiterates, to me, that he's speaking to an older man. "Don't your feet get cold in the Wintertime?" Someone who has cold feet is afraid to commit, and speaking poetically, the Wintertime can easily be seen as the Winter of someone's life (the last quarter). Therefore, I see it as, "Isn't it hard to commit when you get older?"
I think it's wonderful that right after an allusion to the seasons, he goes on to talk about weather. But again, I'm not taking "The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine" literally. This, along with the next line, "(It's hard to tell the nighttime from the day") refer to the following line about losing all your highs and lows. In a world with no highs and lows, there is neither sunshine nor snow; neither night nor day.
Let somebody love you, old man, before it's too late.