To me, the person singing (Jack or Ennis or a representation of anyone who can't have what they want because it's seen as wrong) is being sarcastic. He feels that every time he tries to be just a little bit closer to happiness, his maker makes it a little harder for him to reach what he yearns for. Like the phrase of taking one step forward and two steps back. He even feels like God is taunting him, creating smiles on others to contrast more sharply with the pain he carries around with him. He has been taught over and over that these feelings he has are wrong, that his love comes from the devil and that God will hate him for what he cannot help but feel.
The last verse, to me, states the irony of the whole mentality:
Oh Lord, how I know,
Oh Lord, how I see,
that only can the maker make a happy man of me
He obviously is not happy and has not 'seen the light' about how to live. If you look at the song from Ennis' perspective, which probably makes the most sense to do, he winds up in a little trailer with only memories and the two shirts intertwined in his closet to comfort him. This is what his Maker has brought him in teaching him the "right ways" to be a good man.
It is a painful sad song, and I think it captures the overriding emotions of the movie very well.
To me, the person singing (Jack or Ennis or a representation of anyone who can't have what they want because it's seen as wrong) is being sarcastic. He feels that every time he tries to be just a little bit closer to happiness, his maker makes it a little harder for him to reach what he yearns for. Like the phrase of taking one step forward and two steps back. He even feels like God is taunting him, creating smiles on others to contrast more sharply with the pain he carries around with him. He has been taught over and over that these feelings he has are wrong, that his love comes from the devil and that God will hate him for what he cannot help but feel.
The last verse, to me, states the irony of the whole mentality: Oh Lord, how I know, Oh Lord, how I see, that only can the maker make a happy man of me
He obviously is not happy and has not 'seen the light' about how to live. If you look at the song from Ennis' perspective, which probably makes the most sense to do, he winds up in a little trailer with only memories and the two shirts intertwined in his closet to comfort him. This is what his Maker has brought him in teaching him the "right ways" to be a good man.
It is a painful sad song, and I think it captures the overriding emotions of the movie very well.