I think the dude is stuck in jail and he's thinking about how he messed up not only his life, but the life of the woman he loves. I think I can explain this best by making notes on the lyrics:
Remember the weight of the world
It's a sound that we used to buy
On cassette and 45
(He's remembering simpler times when they were young and they didn't feel the weight of the world, the heaviness of responsibility and worry. They used to buy music to listen to which would put them in touch with those feelings since they didn't get them through experience.)
And now this little girl
She says will we make it all
800 miles is a drive
(With him in jail, she doesn't know if the relationship will survive at all because they have a huge distance between them. I guess he's on the end of west Texas and she's in San Augustine or something. At any rate, she's not sure the relationship is going to last because of the mental and physical distance between them.)
You you got the weight of the world coming down like a mother's eye
And all that you can
All that you can give is a cold goodbye
(She's worried and burdened and he can see it in her eyes. She is so drained she can only give him a cold goodbye when visiting hours are over.)
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age
Strapped-up soldiers
They'll lock you in a cage without goodbye
For a nickel bribe
(Maybe someone bribed them to arrest him and that's why he's in jail? This makes it seem like he's being unlawfully incarcerated. Like he did nothing but have a bad reputation in their town.)
But oh no where are you tonight?
(He wonders this because he can't see or call her.)
And how'd we get here?
It's too late to break it off
(How'd he get in jail and how'd she get to be in love with a cat that's in jail?)
I need a release
(Sexual, or a mental release, or a physical release from jail)
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
(I like how Buckets pointed out that the get me off line isn't just about getting off sexually, it could be another allusion to busting out of jail with the "I need a release / But that don't get me off".)
I summon you to appear, my love
(As noted before if you get a summons to appear, you have to go to court and testify. So he's using legal terms to tell her he needs to see her.)
Got the weight of the world
I summon you here my love
(He's under a lot of strain and seeing her would release some of the weight of the world.)
I think the dude is stuck in jail and he's thinking about how he messed up not only his life, but the life of the woman he loves. I think I can explain this best by making notes on the lyrics:
Remember the weight of the world It's a sound that we used to buy On cassette and 45
(He's remembering simpler times when they were young and they didn't feel the weight of the world, the heaviness of responsibility and worry. They used to buy music to listen to which would put them in touch with those feelings since they didn't get them through experience.)
And now this little girl She says will we make it all 800 miles is a drive
(With him in jail, she doesn't know if the relationship will survive at all because they have a huge distance between them. I guess he's on the end of west Texas and she's in San Augustine or something. At any rate, she's not sure the relationship is going to last because of the mental and physical distance between them.)
You you got the weight of the world coming down like a mother's eye And all that you can All that you can give is a cold goodbye
(She's worried and burdened and he can see it in her eyes. She is so drained she can only give him a cold goodbye when visiting hours are over.)
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age Strapped-up soldiers They'll lock you in a cage without goodbye For a nickel bribe
(Maybe someone bribed them to arrest him and that's why he's in jail? This makes it seem like he's being unlawfully incarcerated. Like he did nothing but have a bad reputation in their town.)
But oh no where are you tonight?
(He wonders this because he can't see or call her.)
And how'd we get here? It's too late to break it off
(How'd he get in jail and how'd she get to be in love with a cat that's in jail?)
I need a release
(Sexual, or a mental release, or a physical release from jail)
The signal's a cough But that don't get me off
(I like how Buckets pointed out that the get me off line isn't just about getting off sexually, it could be another allusion to busting out of jail with the "I need a release / But that don't get me off".)
I summon you to appear, my love
(As noted before if you get a summons to appear, you have to go to court and testify. So he's using legal terms to tell her he needs to see her.)
Got the weight of the world I summon you here my love
(He's under a lot of strain and seeing her would release some of the weight of the world.)