Lyric discussion by Meinos 

Cover art for If... lyrics by Divine Comedy, The

That's exactly what I thought, Associate. The whole song says to me that he doesn't care about having real interaction with the woman -- he doesn't need or even seem to want any input from her.

"If you were a tree I could put my arms around you And you could not complain If you were a tree I could carve my name into your side And you would not cry, 'Cos trees don't cry."

That bit is particularly creepy, too. It seems to imply that she's not actually interested in him ('you couldn't complain'), and the 'trees don't cry' bit seems to imply that it WOULD hurt, his carving his name, but she just wouldn't cry. It's as you said -- he just wants to possess her.

Not that I don't love the song, or anything. g