i think this song is about a man who loves a woman who can't stay faithful to him. he loves her, he'll forgive her, he'll take her back every time she strays, but she still can't be with one man and it kills him inside. she's the "talk of the town" (people gossiping), and he even insists that if she wants the other guys, to just leave him and be with them. but at night when he’s with her, he tries to forget all her other lovers and tries to "live a quiet life" with her, as in, imagining she's not cheating on him. when she's "dressing him as a clown" it's her playing him as the fool: he knows, she knows, everyone knows, but he still pretends that she only loves him. he knows inside that "nothing i say could make you mine."
i also think "i can think it as good as you" is "fake it," as in, if you pretend you're only with me, i'll pretend too. i also think it's interesting that he sings "margot" in there, because margot tenenbaum was cheating on her husband blatantly in The Royal Tenenbaums.
i think this song is about a man who loves a woman who can't stay faithful to him. he loves her, he'll forgive her, he'll take her back every time she strays, but she still can't be with one man and it kills him inside. she's the "talk of the town" (people gossiping), and he even insists that if she wants the other guys, to just leave him and be with them. but at night when he’s with her, he tries to forget all her other lovers and tries to "live a quiet life" with her, as in, imagining she's not cheating on him. when she's "dressing him as a clown" it's her playing him as the fool: he knows, she knows, everyone knows, but he still pretends that she only loves him. he knows inside that "nothing i say could make you mine."
i also think "i can think it as good as you" is "fake it," as in, if you pretend you're only with me, i'll pretend too. i also think it's interesting that he sings "margot" in there, because margot tenenbaum was cheating on her husband blatantly in The Royal Tenenbaums.