I think the friend is in detox. He's visiting 'em. He has to wear a name tag, the bit about 'keeping him dry' and 'bars turn out their lights' and 'autos swerving'. There's definitely an alcohol theme somewhere present.
I didn't think about this, but it's a good spin on it. Definitely something to think about. It certainly lends something to the line "And I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving." Perhaps he's driving the girl to rehab of her own accord, and she left him to save him the mess of her. The references to "smeared black ink" and "last demands" might allude to the smeared black ink on the papers that were signed when she checked in to rehab, and her requests to come see her or perhaps move on...
I didn't think about this, but it's a good spin on it. Definitely something to think about. It certainly lends something to the line "And I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving." Perhaps he's driving the girl to rehab of her own accord, and she left him to save him the mess of her. The references to "smeared black ink" and "last demands" might allude to the smeared black ink on the papers that were signed when she checked in to rehab, and her requests to come see her or perhaps move on that she mafe. Sweaty hands would be explained by the girl's being nervous to enter rehab. Chronologically, the placement of this verse makes sense. First she checks in, then he's a visitor, then he feels alone when he leaves, noticing all of the drunks on the street.
This song makes me think of a couple that got pulled apart when the girl went to college. At my old university, there were some dorms that required all non-residents to sign in and get a visitor pass. The way people change when they go to college, sometimes to fit in with their new crowd of friends, might be the reason that the singer says she seems "out of context". Colleges also tend to be big bar districts, which might explain that.
These two ideas are the two I've always thought this song was about, and depending on my mood, I would be convinced it was about one, and then my mood would change and I would be sure it was about the other. I thought, if it was guy visiting his ex-girlfriend who's moved to a new city and moved on without him, "the only keeping him dry" would be that he really wants to cry, but can't because he is out with this girl's new friends and doesn't want to make a scene. In the re-hab aspect, dry can be...
These two ideas are the two I've always thought this song was about, and depending on my mood, I would be convinced it was about one, and then my mood would change and I would be sure it was about the other. I thought, if it was guy visiting his ex-girlfriend who's moved to a new city and moved on without him, "the only keeping him dry" would be that he really wants to cry, but can't because he is out with this girl's new friends and doesn't want to make a scene. In the re-hab aspect, dry can be a term for not drinking, like sober, and it was maybe a problem they shared so the only thing keeping him dry (sober) is being in the rehab building to visit her. Definitely sounds like a co-dependent relationship that she had the courage to leave to help herself get sober. I love how the writer really personifies the city, as though it's another character in the song, and the absence of these two recovering drinkers leaves the city streets "lonely" and "sleeping alone".
This song is so good but so sad! I've loved it since I first heard it several years ago! I first heard it through a boyfriend I had quite a few years ago. It was a really rocky relationship and there were always nights where I'd wish he was sleeping next to me, but we'd had a fight or something so he'd go home and I'd sleep alone. My initals are DC, so it always made me emotional to hear this song, and especially the line "DC sleeps alone tonight."
I think the friend is in detox. He's visiting 'em. He has to wear a name tag, the bit about 'keeping him dry' and 'bars turn out their lights' and 'autos swerving'. There's definitely an alcohol theme somewhere present.
I didn't think about this, but it's a good spin on it. Definitely something to think about. It certainly lends something to the line "And I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving." Perhaps he's driving the girl to rehab of her own accord, and she left him to save him the mess of her. The references to "smeared black ink" and "last demands" might allude to the smeared black ink on the papers that were signed when she checked in to rehab, and her requests to come see her or perhaps move on...
I didn't think about this, but it's a good spin on it. Definitely something to think about. It certainly lends something to the line "And I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving." Perhaps he's driving the girl to rehab of her own accord, and she left him to save him the mess of her. The references to "smeared black ink" and "last demands" might allude to the smeared black ink on the papers that were signed when she checked in to rehab, and her requests to come see her or perhaps move on that she mafe. Sweaty hands would be explained by the girl's being nervous to enter rehab. Chronologically, the placement of this verse makes sense. First she checks in, then he's a visitor, then he feels alone when he leaves, noticing all of the drunks on the street.
This song makes me think of a couple that got pulled apart when the girl went to college. At my old university, there were some dorms that required all non-residents to sign in and get a visitor pass. The way people change when they go to college, sometimes to fit in with their new crowd of friends, might be the reason that the singer says she seems "out of context". Colleges also tend to be big bar districts, which might explain that.
These two ideas are the two I've always thought this song was about, and depending on my mood, I would be convinced it was about one, and then my mood would change and I would be sure it was about the other. I thought, if it was guy visiting his ex-girlfriend who's moved to a new city and moved on without him, "the only keeping him dry" would be that he really wants to cry, but can't because he is out with this girl's new friends and doesn't want to make a scene. In the re-hab aspect, dry can be...
These two ideas are the two I've always thought this song was about, and depending on my mood, I would be convinced it was about one, and then my mood would change and I would be sure it was about the other. I thought, if it was guy visiting his ex-girlfriend who's moved to a new city and moved on without him, "the only keeping him dry" would be that he really wants to cry, but can't because he is out with this girl's new friends and doesn't want to make a scene. In the re-hab aspect, dry can be a term for not drinking, like sober, and it was maybe a problem they shared so the only thing keeping him dry (sober) is being in the rehab building to visit her. Definitely sounds like a co-dependent relationship that she had the courage to leave to help herself get sober. I love how the writer really personifies the city, as though it's another character in the song, and the absence of these two recovering drinkers leaves the city streets "lonely" and "sleeping alone".
This song is so good but so sad! I've loved it since I first heard it several years ago! I first heard it through a boyfriend I had quite a few years ago. It was a really rocky relationship and there were always nights where I'd wish he was sleeping next to me, but we'd had a fight or something so he'd go home and I'd sleep alone. My initals are DC, so it always made me emotional to hear this song, and especially the line "DC sleeps alone tonight."