At face value, this could be a song about some, apparently innocent guy being convicted of something and sentenced to hard time.
But in standard Calexico fashion, it could well be choc full o' metaphors.
If you look at it right, you can kinda make the "Breakup" thing work. I mean it's the only... lead we have right?
Well, uh...
The first verse could mean that he's depressed and in emotional pain. He mentions fangs in him--and I know from experience, that in situations like that, fangs can be a good metaphor for the shitty thing you're feeling.
The second verse is about "one man's righteousness" (which would be a judge's commitment to putting people away for long periods of time and feeling righteous, or... relly any kind of decision by that judge), being one man's "long haul sentence" (which would be... a long sentence... prison time), and it uses "counting the miles to the four corners of the world" to give context to just how long this "sentence" would be. This verse could be talking about the person who left him, and him lamenting either the time it will take him to feel better, or lamenting the fact that he will be separated from that person as long as time progresses.
The last verse could refer to him spending a lot of time in deep thought, considering everything in the relationship. Perhaps he's looking for some kind of hope, as though he'll remember something that will give him that last little piece of golden hope. Or perhaps he's looking for what he did wrong. Perhaps he's just going over it all, because that's all he knows how to do at this point.
In that same verse [last verse] he goes on to talk about "one man's last pursuit" being another man's "last chance." These two men are probably himself. "Suffer the weight or get buried by this" would simply mean that if he can't get through the inevitable pain of this separation, he'll be destroyed by it.
At face value, this could be a song about some, apparently innocent guy being convicted of something and sentenced to hard time.
But in standard Calexico fashion, it could well be choc full o' metaphors.
If you look at it right, you can kinda make the "Breakup" thing work. I mean it's the only... lead we have right?
Well, uh... The first verse could mean that he's depressed and in emotional pain. He mentions fangs in him--and I know from experience, that in situations like that, fangs can be a good metaphor for the shitty thing you're feeling.
The second verse is about "one man's righteousness" (which would be a judge's commitment to putting people away for long periods of time and feeling righteous, or... relly any kind of decision by that judge), being one man's "long haul sentence" (which would be... a long sentence... prison time), and it uses "counting the miles to the four corners of the world" to give context to just how long this "sentence" would be. This verse could be talking about the person who left him, and him lamenting either the time it will take him to feel better, or lamenting the fact that he will be separated from that person as long as time progresses.
The last verse could refer to him spending a lot of time in deep thought, considering everything in the relationship. Perhaps he's looking for some kind of hope, as though he'll remember something that will give him that last little piece of golden hope. Or perhaps he's looking for what he did wrong. Perhaps he's just going over it all, because that's all he knows how to do at this point.
In that same verse [last verse] he goes on to talk about "one man's last pursuit" being another man's "last chance." These two men are probably himself. "Suffer the weight or get buried by this" would simply mean that if he can't get through the inevitable pain of this separation, he'll be destroyed by it.