This song reminded me instrisically of medieval fairy tales. I see the man as the angel of death (' ripped his wing off of his arm' fallen angel perhaps?) who has come for the lady who has is down the well. (Was she pushed? Was it suicide?) The scarecrows represent the people who stop and stare at her body, but aren't physically able to do anything.
Another interpretation would be that this man loved the woman who he finds had fallen down a well and decides to follow her in death, 'keeling forward and he fell'. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance these sort of deaths were more frequent than you might imagine.
Lyrics correction: 'Her pretty broken wrist was clutched under her fist. Her ankles were all wound about a silver gown.'
This song reminded me instrisically of medieval fairy tales. I see the man as the angel of death (' ripped his wing off of his arm' fallen angel perhaps?) who has come for the lady who has is down the well. (Was she pushed? Was it suicide?) The scarecrows represent the people who stop and stare at her body, but aren't physically able to do anything.
Another interpretation would be that this man loved the woman who he finds had fallen down a well and decides to follow her in death, 'keeling forward and he fell'. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance these sort of deaths were more frequent than you might imagine.
Lyrics correction: 'Her pretty broken wrist was clutched under her fist. Her ankles were all wound about a silver gown.'