Lyric discussion by pka 

Cover art for The Diamond Sea lyrics by Sonic Youth

while it may be about a girl and a breakup or something like that, i feel that this song itself is about growing old. obviously, the lyric "time takes it's crazy toll" supports that, as well as stuff like "'cause she's gonna take you for a fall"..

but aside from the lyrics, let me explain this from a different perspetive

if you listen to this song at a young age, and enjoy it so much that you happen to listen to it a lot, try thinking about how you would feel listening to it again at a very old age.. like if you were nearing death and you listen to it again, you would feel an unbelievable wave of emotions and memories. the song is nearly 20 minutes, and completely changes pace at different points in the song. it's slow and calm in the beginning, and progresses into uncomfortable chaos. by doing this, i feel that sonic youth is trying to make the song resemble a life, with the length resembling a long lived life and old age, and the chaos as death and regret.

basically, if i was on my deathbed listening to this song, it would first bring back memories from the past, but as it progressed it would turn into a reminder of how those days are over, and become the scary fact that all that's left is death and whatever may be beyond it.