I was at a Missy Higgins concert a while ago, and she said she was asked a lot about this song and where it came from, and that, no, it's not from personal experience, it's just from her "sick, twisted mind". So yeah, there's that question answered.
As to what it means, well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? A literal reading is the little girl "merely ten years old" is having a pretty horrific time at home. We don't get specifics, but it's obviously got something to do with fights and alcohol. And basically she trots off to the nearest river in the middle of the night and decides to go for a swim i.e. drowns herself to escape it. Very sad song. It always makes my mum cry.
I was at a Missy Higgins concert a while ago, and she said she was asked a lot about this song and where it came from, and that, no, it's not from personal experience, it's just from her "sick, twisted mind". So yeah, there's that question answered. As to what it means, well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? A literal reading is the little girl "merely ten years old" is having a pretty horrific time at home. We don't get specifics, but it's obviously got something to do with fights and alcohol. And basically she trots off to the nearest river in the middle of the night and decides to go for a swim i.e. drowns herself to escape it. Very sad song. It always makes my mum cry.