My Friend, My Friend

this is kind of "left field interpretation" but my friends and i always linked this in with Twin Peaks.

it's a well known fact that Tom and the band were fans of the show ("The Great Went" is a direct reference etc.)

the song refers to Windham Earle, the man who stabbed his partner/best friend, Agent Cooper's, wife

cooper is the one who "steps up sits at his table" becoming the golden boy of the FBI upon Earle's departure.

on a side note in the mid 90's in new york phish performed this and instead of ending with the laughter they vamped into one of the Julee Cruise songs featured in Twin Peaks... coincidence?

Supposedly Tom Marshall wrote this song about his friend, who had just become married. His friend received a knife as a wedding present.

The song seems to be about the comparison between pre- and post-wedlock life for Tom's friend. The second half appears to describe the friend's anxiety at fully realizing his current situation.

Mife.

I think this song is about being tempted when you're married.

"My friend, my friend he's got a knife, a statement from his former life When he was easy but alone beside him was an empty throne"

He's a married guy, and the knife represents his past when he was still single. It's a statement of his former life when he had no "queen," no wife to sit beside him.

"But what of silver silken blade, affix his gaze, his features staid Grasps the handle, clips the cable, one steps up, sits at his table"

So he's married, but ah, he's still got this knife that reminds him of being single. He's getting ready to cheat, so he "clips the cable" connecting to his wife, and almost immediately, "one sits at his table" which is a woman looking to fool around with him.

"My friend, my friend, he's got a knife My friend, my friend, he's got a wife"

Trying to balance the scales, with his wife on one side, and the knife representing his independence and "lost" freedom on the other side.

"My friend, my friend, the clever ruse, persuasion through his thoughts peruse" He's thinking of ways to persuade the new girl into bed with him.

"A hidden relic from his past that wasn't there when he looked last" The girl is someone he used to know, or date, or sleep with. He's starting there, even though he really did try to put her out of his mind when he got married.

"He feels it ticking like a bomb, feeding fear, assaulting calm" Now that he has basically committed himself to stepping out on his wife, it's giving him panic attacks. He knows he's about to do something wrong.

"Takes the object, starts the game, moves it closer to the flame" The Object is the woman he's trying to bed, because he doesn't really care about here. She's just an object to him. "Starting the game" means he's started trying to woo her, and "moves it closer to the flame" refers to him escalating things with her, pushing her as good as he can to get her into bed.

"My friend, my friend, the clever ruse My friend, my friend, he lights the fuse" Every cheater has a ruse they tell their spouses to make it easier to cheat. His is particularly clever, and so he "lights the fuse," he sleeps with the other woman, knowing that it is basically inevitable that his wife will find out. When fuses burn out, a loud BOOM usually follows. That boom will be the sound of his marriage exploding.

Just my take. I didn't research to find out if the lyricist has actually said what it means.