For a long time, I thought the Polaroids were "dirty" because they were old, dusty, scratched, etc. But I think now that they're probably "dirty" in the sexually explicit sense. Maybe I'm just slow for catching onto that, but it changes the tone of the song to me fairly drastically. Before, I didn't really understand why this guy would send her old photographs -- but if he sends her sexual pictures (of himself, presumably), it's clear to me that he wants something different out of her than she wants from him. She wants letters from him while she's in the hospital, but he doesn't think to send them. She's probably in love with him, but either he doesn't reciprocate or he doesn't communicate his feelings well -- maybe he just doesn't understand that she wants letters.
I don't have much else to add. I think this is a mostly straight-forward narrative. "I miss my friends and I want to go home and I am tired of taking pills to make me feel better" -- pretty literal.
For a long time, I thought the Polaroids were "dirty" because they were old, dusty, scratched, etc. But I think now that they're probably "dirty" in the sexually explicit sense. Maybe I'm just slow for catching onto that, but it changes the tone of the song to me fairly drastically. Before, I didn't really understand why this guy would send her old photographs -- but if he sends her sexual pictures (of himself, presumably), it's clear to me that he wants something different out of her than she wants from him. She wants letters from him while she's in the hospital, but he doesn't think to send them. She's probably in love with him, but either he doesn't reciprocate or he doesn't communicate his feelings well -- maybe he just doesn't understand that she wants letters.
I don't have much else to add. I think this is a mostly straight-forward narrative. "I miss my friends and I want to go home and I am tired of taking pills to make me feel better" -- pretty literal.