Ok this one's open to personal interpretation, but this is how I see it:
"Keep the wind to your back and the sun on your face
All the immediate unknowns are better than knowing this tired and lonely fate."
Narrator talking to herself, after all is said and done, turn the page, move on. This is actually the conclusion of the story.
"Does he love you?
Does he love you?
Will he hold your tiny face in his hands?"
Here's where I differ from most people's view. The narrator is talking to her own unborn child, wondering if what she wants more than anything else will happen: her lover (and father of the baby) will be with her (them) in the end.
"I guess it's spring; I didn't know
It's always seventy-five with no meltin' snow
A married man, he visits me
I recieved his letters in the mail twice a week"
Narrator telling us how unsatisfying her situation is, and how time seems to stand still... in California. (pretty much a given here)
"And I think he loves me
and when he leaves her
he's coming out to California"
She's pretty much trying to convince herself, unsure what to really beleive. "I think" is key here.
"I guess it all worked out
There's a ring on your finger and the baby's due out"
We learn the narrator has a friend who seems very happilly married and expecting a baby. Things weren't always so bright but now all is great, right?
"You share a place by the park and run a shop for antiques downtown
And he loves you, yeah he loves you, and the two of you will soon become three"
Sounds comforting, and the narrator sure seems to know the man pretty well.
"And he loves you, even though you used to say you were flawed if you weren't free"
Hmm. I guess the friend's love for this man seems a bit hard to accept to our narrator.
"Let's not forget ourselves good friend
You and I were almost dead
And you're better off for leavin'
Yeah you're better off for leavin'"
There's a lot of bagage between these gals. One thing's for sure, they use to live close to one another. I beleive the love triangle is the reason the friend left in the first place.
"Late at night, I get the phone
You're at the shop sobbin' all alone
Your confession is coming out
You only married him, you felt your time was running out"
That guy sure seems like a jerk. Friend got pregnant and married the narrator's lover (in that order?) so that she could live happilly ever after, even though she always claimed she didn't need to settle down.
"But now you love him, and your baby
At last you are complete"
Settling down really isn't that bad. Really, it's great... unless your signifigant other is still seeing his ex which happens to be you old friend.
"But he's distant and you found him on the phone pleading saying
'baby I love you and I'll leave her and I'm comin' out to California'"
OH MY GOD! Alright first time I heard it it made quite an impression on me too.
"Let's not forget ourselves good friend
I am flawed if I'm not free"
That's the narrator once again trying to feel better about herself with empty statements. And this bird you cannot chaaaaaaaaaange
"and your husband will never leave you, he will never leave you for me"
The tone in which this line is delivered is important. This is not her way to say "don't worry". She's really telling herself "Who the hell am I kidding, I'm so screwed". She's also stating that the guy's word is meaningless, that the situation won't change (including him being a cheater), and that both the girls were horribly stupid to let this man in their lives and then ruin their friendship. In the end we're left with one miserable married woman and a devastated single mother.
The single mother will now need to keep the wind to her back and the sun on her face. All the immediate unknowns are better than knowing her friend's tired and lonely fate.
Ok this one's open to personal interpretation, but this is how I see it:
"Keep the wind to your back and the sun on your face All the immediate unknowns are better than knowing this tired and lonely fate."
Narrator talking to herself, after all is said and done, turn the page, move on. This is actually the conclusion of the story.
"Does he love you? Does he love you? Will he hold your tiny face in his hands?"
Here's where I differ from most people's view. The narrator is talking to her own unborn child, wondering if what she wants more than anything else will happen: her lover (and father of the baby) will be with her (them) in the end.
"I guess it's spring; I didn't know It's always seventy-five with no meltin' snow A married man, he visits me I recieved his letters in the mail twice a week"
Narrator telling us how unsatisfying her situation is, and how time seems to stand still... in California. (pretty much a given here)
"And I think he loves me and when he leaves her he's coming out to California"
She's pretty much trying to convince herself, unsure what to really beleive. "I think" is key here.
"I guess it all worked out There's a ring on your finger and the baby's due out"
We learn the narrator has a friend who seems very happilly married and expecting a baby. Things weren't always so bright but now all is great, right?
"You share a place by the park and run a shop for antiques downtown And he loves you, yeah he loves you, and the two of you will soon become three"
Sounds comforting, and the narrator sure seems to know the man pretty well.
"And he loves you, even though you used to say you were flawed if you weren't free"
Hmm. I guess the friend's love for this man seems a bit hard to accept to our narrator.
"Let's not forget ourselves good friend You and I were almost dead And you're better off for leavin' Yeah you're better off for leavin'"
There's a lot of bagage between these gals. One thing's for sure, they use to live close to one another. I beleive the love triangle is the reason the friend left in the first place.
"Late at night, I get the phone You're at the shop sobbin' all alone Your confession is coming out You only married him, you felt your time was running out"
That guy sure seems like a jerk. Friend got pregnant and married the narrator's lover (in that order?) so that she could live happilly ever after, even though she always claimed she didn't need to settle down.
"But now you love him, and your baby At last you are complete"
Settling down really isn't that bad. Really, it's great... unless your signifigant other is still seeing his ex which happens to be you old friend.
"But he's distant and you found him on the phone pleading saying 'baby I love you and I'll leave her and I'm comin' out to California'"
OH MY GOD! Alright first time I heard it it made quite an impression on me too.
"Let's not forget ourselves good friend I am flawed if I'm not free"
That's the narrator once again trying to feel better about herself with empty statements. And this bird you cannot chaaaaaaaaaange
"and your husband will never leave you, he will never leave you for me"
The tone in which this line is delivered is important. This is not her way to say "don't worry". She's really telling herself "Who the hell am I kidding, I'm so screwed". She's also stating that the guy's word is meaningless, that the situation won't change (including him being a cheater), and that both the girls were horribly stupid to let this man in their lives and then ruin their friendship. In the end we're left with one miserable married woman and a devastated single mother.
The single mother will now need to keep the wind to her back and the sun on her face. All the immediate unknowns are better than knowing her friend's tired and lonely fate.