The ideal of love was not entirely achieved, but instead of being disappointed by the end, the author accepts the "failure" as another facet of love itself.
Ruby Falls itself is a beautiful spectacle --perhaps he and the girl visited it as part of a road trip together in which they realized they weren't right for each other (reinforced by reference to "navigation" later on)-- but when one sees it, there is a sense of acceptance. To get there, one must drive through some of the most beautiful parts in Tennessee's mountains. Upon one's "reaching the end," the falls themselves aren't extremely grand or superb, they're just beautiful.
The author may view the love he had in this way, starting with a "digging" to recover what he has lost, but eventually settling on acceptance of its end. He is confused as to where they can go from there. Certainly he feels guilt in the early lines of the song, asking his Judge to look away from his failings in the relationship and, in an image similar to that of Dante and Beatrice in Dante's "Divine Comedy," requesting that his love "don't look him in the eye."
Eventually he asks her to "wash it all down" and swallow the reality of it-- the birds will remain buried, the memory of their love will be its sole salvation, their is no more between them.
The ideal of love was not entirely achieved, but instead of being disappointed by the end, the author accepts the "failure" as another facet of love itself. Ruby Falls itself is a beautiful spectacle --perhaps he and the girl visited it as part of a road trip together in which they realized they weren't right for each other (reinforced by reference to "navigation" later on)-- but when one sees it, there is a sense of acceptance. To get there, one must drive through some of the most beautiful parts in Tennessee's mountains. Upon one's "reaching the end," the falls themselves aren't extremely grand or superb, they're just beautiful. The author may view the love he had in this way, starting with a "digging" to recover what he has lost, but eventually settling on acceptance of its end. He is confused as to where they can go from there. Certainly he feels guilt in the early lines of the song, asking his Judge to look away from his failings in the relationship and, in an image similar to that of Dante and Beatrice in Dante's "Divine Comedy," requesting that his love "don't look him in the eye." Eventually he asks her to "wash it all down" and swallow the reality of it-- the birds will remain buried, the memory of their love will be its sole salvation, their is no more between them.