This is a bittersweet narrative about a many recalling an old lover who, while he could not have settled down with her, he truly enjoyed her companionship. She was a free spirit, the “whimsical” girlfriend, perhaps a hippie with a trust fund or perhaps the most beautiful or sexual girl he was ever with. However, the author shoulders a bit of guilt for not giving more of himself to her. But at the chorus he justifies “keeping his distance” because as she fell in love with him, “she falls in love with everyone.” Needless to say he reserved some degree of cynicism toward he entire demeanor.
It’s not readily apparent as to why this man would feel bad about dumping a flake until the second and saddest verse. Here, to me, it sounds like he’s describing how this woman had been molested by her father as a girl. It sounds as if the father had once been in good standing as the “vice president of southern branches” but now he “warmed the benches” like an athlete in a slump. Anyway, “he reached out to her, while her mother slept, [s]he would never forget…”
“The light strikes terror,” the light being that of a lit hallway as the door to a darkened bedroom is opened from outside. This explains how the author may have eventually learned about this sad story of his girlfriend’s past. Perhaps, she had a nightmare and explained it to him. Perhaps, he came in to their bedroom one night as she had been sleeping and startled her. Or perhaps, she explained this to him while they were stoned and buying a Christmas tree.
This is a bittersweet narrative about a many recalling an old lover who, while he could not have settled down with her, he truly enjoyed her companionship. She was a free spirit, the “whimsical” girlfriend, perhaps a hippie with a trust fund or perhaps the most beautiful or sexual girl he was ever with. However, the author shoulders a bit of guilt for not giving more of himself to her. But at the chorus he justifies “keeping his distance” because as she fell in love with him, “she falls in love with everyone.” Needless to say he reserved some degree of cynicism toward he entire demeanor.
It’s not readily apparent as to why this man would feel bad about dumping a flake until the second and saddest verse. Here, to me, it sounds like he’s describing how this woman had been molested by her father as a girl. It sounds as if the father had once been in good standing as the “vice president of southern branches” but now he “warmed the benches” like an athlete in a slump. Anyway, “he reached out to her, while her mother slept, [s]he would never forget…”
“The light strikes terror,” the light being that of a lit hallway as the door to a darkened bedroom is opened from outside. This explains how the author may have eventually learned about this sad story of his girlfriend’s past. Perhaps, she had a nightmare and explained it to him. Perhaps, he came in to their bedroom one night as she had been sleeping and startled her. Or perhaps, she explained this to him while they were stoned and buying a Christmas tree.
That’s my 2¢