At first, I thought this song was about God (Maker with a capital M) keeping the two people apart. But then I thought maybe the Maker can mean society in general. But after reading ancientage's notion, I have to agree that the song does not mean God as the maker at all. The song must be from the perspective of one of the characters, but which? I agree with ancientage that it makes the most sense that this song is sung by Jack about Ennis. Let's examine the text:
"One more chain I break" - This verse tells how Jack tries to get closer to Ennis but Ennis keeps putting up the walls.
"One more notch I scratch" - This verse reminds me of someone in jail scratching marks on the walls to count the days. Jack had been waiting for Ennis to drop those chains for over 20 years.
"Get along little doggies (?)" - "Get along" I guess means just keep on living as someone else here has said. When I first heard the song, I had a bit of trouble understanding a couple of lines, but this wasn't one of them. I am still certain that Rufus sang "lil' darlings", not "doggies". Maybe "doggies" is the official lyric, but I don't know. "Lil' darlings" would tie to the story more because in the book, Ennis uses this term for both Jack and his daughters, the only people he really loves in the world.
"One more smile I fake" - This verse tells how both men are unhappy. Ennis also fakes being happy for Jack's sake. The last time they were together, they had a fight to expose their fake smiles.
"Oh Lord, how I know" - This verse says it all, that Ennis alone can make Jack happy, but Ennis woldn't allow himself to do that.
At first, I thought this song was about God (Maker with a capital M) keeping the two people apart. But then I thought maybe the Maker can mean society in general. But after reading ancientage's notion, I have to agree that the song does not mean God as the maker at all. The song must be from the perspective of one of the characters, but which? I agree with ancientage that it makes the most sense that this song is sung by Jack about Ennis. Let's examine the text:
"One more chain I break" - This verse tells how Jack tries to get closer to Ennis but Ennis keeps putting up the walls.
"One more notch I scratch" - This verse reminds me of someone in jail scratching marks on the walls to count the days. Jack had been waiting for Ennis to drop those chains for over 20 years.
"Get along little doggies (?)" - "Get along" I guess means just keep on living as someone else here has said. When I first heard the song, I had a bit of trouble understanding a couple of lines, but this wasn't one of them. I am still certain that Rufus sang "lil' darlings", not "doggies". Maybe "doggies" is the official lyric, but I don't know. "Lil' darlings" would tie to the story more because in the book, Ennis uses this term for both Jack and his daughters, the only people he really loves in the world.
"One more smile I fake" - This verse tells how both men are unhappy. Ennis also fakes being happy for Jack's sake. The last time they were together, they had a fight to expose their fake smiles.
"Oh Lord, how I know" - This verse says it all, that Ennis alone can make Jack happy, but Ennis woldn't allow himself to do that.