I actually feel this song is about her seeing a bonafide "bad boy"-- a guy who is no good for her. She loves him, she is attracted to him, she wants him, but she knows that it is not a healthy relationship for her.
She wants to be a good woman, not getting into trouble and having a good relationship. She wants him to be a good man, one who won't drink every night or have one-night stands or what-have-you. She wants to have a good relationship, essentially.
But it's not going to happen. She realizes that she can't change him. He's going to forever be a bad man, and she in turn does not want to turn into a bad woman--by either taking on his bad habits, or by holding herself back from finding a good man.
She obviously sees past his faults, yet she cannot hide from the fact that the faults could someday grow stronger than their love, and thus overtake the relationship and send it into ruins. She is ending it before it gets out of hand and before that happens, so she can keep her good memories. She's preventing the bad.
I actually feel this song is about her seeing a bonafide "bad boy"-- a guy who is no good for her. She loves him, she is attracted to him, she wants him, but she knows that it is not a healthy relationship for her.
She wants to be a good woman, not getting into trouble and having a good relationship. She wants him to be a good man, one who won't drink every night or have one-night stands or what-have-you. She wants to have a good relationship, essentially.
But it's not going to happen. She realizes that she can't change him. He's going to forever be a bad man, and she in turn does not want to turn into a bad woman--by either taking on his bad habits, or by holding herself back from finding a good man.
She obviously sees past his faults, yet she cannot hide from the fact that the faults could someday grow stronger than their love, and thus overtake the relationship and send it into ruins. She is ending it before it gets out of hand and before that happens, so she can keep her good memories. She's preventing the bad.