I've always loved this song, too. Always meant to analyze it. Okay. Here goes.
My thoughts on this (and this is going to be a bit free-form, before I finally have an answer), is that it might be about infidelity, but maybe not the sexual kind. Maybe it's about emotional abandonment.
"You're hungry, but I'm starving" refering to emotional abandonment - he tells her he needs her intimacy, that he hungers for it, while deep-down she feels that her needs for it outweighs his.
"He cuts you down from the tree," could be representative of the last glimmer of their love - as she says, alive, but just barely. Perhaps the box contains love letters from their past.
"Kill the family, save the son," is similar to the old addage, "Spare the rod, spoil the child," which means that if you don't discipline your child, (s)he will grow up lacking respect for rules. Coupled with the line "hit me again," I wonder if this COULD be about spousal abuse, perhaps emotional abuse (not physical).
Let's back up a minute. In the opening lines, she talks about KNOWING something, though she doesn't FEEL it or SEE it. So, this issue is something that is happening, but that she refuses to believe. Maybe he hits her - she knows he's abusive, even though she doesn't feel like he's abusing her - doesn't feel abused. The so-called "pieces" that are kept in the box are empirical proof - she could see those, so this first part is obviously not related to Jennifer.
Somone mentioned Heroin, and my mind keeps drifting back to that - maybe "Jennifer's Body," is code for heroin. The "pieces" might be the items needed to cook and inject the substance. He's gotten to the level where he uses heroin to just remain normal - she never SEES him take it. He doesn't FEEL different to her. Maybe the part where he says, "I'm your lover, I'm your friend, I'm purity, Hit me again," is not the lover's words at all. Maybe there IS no lover? Maybe this "other person," is heroin. Or better yet, maybe she's an addict in a relationship with another addict - it's bettering me. It's bettering you. She's her own worst enemy - she's an addict. She OD's, but he "cuts her down from the tree." --- in other words, she's hanging, and he saves her life. "Hit me again," is not physical abuse, but the act of injecting the drugs (give me a "hit"). This fits in with the "just relax, just relax, just go to sleep," lines - about heroin use. ANd maybe the opening lines don't refer to HIM, but to herself - she doesn't feel different when she takes it, but she KNOWS it is working.
Okay, so after all that, I'm going to say that I'm fairly certain this is about Heroin use, that she (and possibly her lover) are addicts, and this is a way of expressing her feelings about the substance.
I've always loved this song, too. Always meant to analyze it. Okay. Here goes.
My thoughts on this (and this is going to be a bit free-form, before I finally have an answer), is that it might be about infidelity, but maybe not the sexual kind. Maybe it's about emotional abandonment.
"You're hungry, but I'm starving" refering to emotional abandonment - he tells her he needs her intimacy, that he hungers for it, while deep-down she feels that her needs for it outweighs his.
"He cuts you down from the tree," could be representative of the last glimmer of their love - as she says, alive, but just barely. Perhaps the box contains love letters from their past.
"Kill the family, save the son," is similar to the old addage, "Spare the rod, spoil the child," which means that if you don't discipline your child, (s)he will grow up lacking respect for rules. Coupled with the line "hit me again," I wonder if this COULD be about spousal abuse, perhaps emotional abuse (not physical).
Let's back up a minute. In the opening lines, she talks about KNOWING something, though she doesn't FEEL it or SEE it. So, this issue is something that is happening, but that she refuses to believe. Maybe he hits her - she knows he's abusive, even though she doesn't feel like he's abusing her - doesn't feel abused. The so-called "pieces" that are kept in the box are empirical proof - she could see those, so this first part is obviously not related to Jennifer.
Somone mentioned Heroin, and my mind keeps drifting back to that - maybe "Jennifer's Body," is code for heroin. The "pieces" might be the items needed to cook and inject the substance. He's gotten to the level where he uses heroin to just remain normal - she never SEES him take it. He doesn't FEEL different to her. Maybe the part where he says, "I'm your lover, I'm your friend, I'm purity, Hit me again," is not the lover's words at all. Maybe there IS no lover? Maybe this "other person," is heroin. Or better yet, maybe she's an addict in a relationship with another addict - it's bettering me. It's bettering you. She's her own worst enemy - she's an addict. She OD's, but he "cuts her down from the tree." --- in other words, she's hanging, and he saves her life. "Hit me again," is not physical abuse, but the act of injecting the drugs (give me a "hit"). This fits in with the "just relax, just relax, just go to sleep," lines - about heroin use. ANd maybe the opening lines don't refer to HIM, but to herself - she doesn't feel different when she takes it, but she KNOWS it is working.
Okay, so after all that, I'm going to say that I'm fairly certain this is about Heroin use, that she (and possibly her lover) are addicts, and this is a way of expressing her feelings about the substance.