I think that the great thing about songs and song lyrics is that while the song writer may have their own idea about the song while they are writing it, everyone else gets to interpret it in their own way. It wouldn't be very much fun to listen to songs with such great lyrics and be like 'oh those don't mean anything, he's just talking about a prostitute; I saw it in an interview'. It's so much more fun to 'guess' the meaning. :)
For me, I think this song is about a girl who has suffered a lot of pain in her life, someone who lost someone she loved. And because of that she has a hard time opening her heart to love. When she smiles, it's sad, because she hurts, and people's love hurts her. She hides her pain, trying to let people in, but she'll never truly let anyone in. She can't do this because no matter how far she goes, or how long its been, the pain, the sadness, is there with her all the time. She can't forget the pain, but it hurts her too much to remember everything, all the details that caused the pain. (Hence the line, You've gone a million miles How far'd you get To that place where you can't remember And you can't forget, which I think is amazing). I think anyone who has lost someone they loved in tragic circumstances will understand that. As for the secret garden, I think that's where she keeps her memories of whoever she lost, good or bad, about their life or their death, and they are just too personal, as some memories are, to explain or show to another person. Anyway, that's just what I get from the song, I don't think its a love song really. Sorry this is super long :)
I think that the great thing about songs and song lyrics is that while the song writer may have their own idea about the song while they are writing it, everyone else gets to interpret it in their own way. It wouldn't be very much fun to listen to songs with such great lyrics and be like 'oh those don't mean anything, he's just talking about a prostitute; I saw it in an interview'. It's so much more fun to 'guess' the meaning. :) For me, I think this song is about a girl who has suffered a lot of pain in her life, someone who lost someone she loved. And because of that she has a hard time opening her heart to love. When she smiles, it's sad, because she hurts, and people's love hurts her. She hides her pain, trying to let people in, but she'll never truly let anyone in. She can't do this because no matter how far she goes, or how long its been, the pain, the sadness, is there with her all the time. She can't forget the pain, but it hurts her too much to remember everything, all the details that caused the pain. (Hence the line, You've gone a million miles How far'd you get To that place where you can't remember And you can't forget, which I think is amazing). I think anyone who has lost someone they loved in tragic circumstances will understand that. As for the secret garden, I think that's where she keeps her memories of whoever she lost, good or bad, about their life or their death, and they are just too personal, as some memories are, to explain or show to another person. Anyway, that's just what I get from the song, I don't think its a love song really. Sorry this is super long :)