Don't Ask for the Water Lyrics

Lyric discussion by missme 

Cover art for Don't Ask for the Water lyrics by Ryan Adams

Do you think the last verse is referencing Virginia Woolf?

"and her weapon of choice is a red pattern dress and a sack full of stones with her hands on her chest and a book full of quotes and a tight fastened lip"

She killed herself in a river with stones in her pocket...and she was a writer. Not saying the song's about her but this is surely a reference, no?

I thought of Virginia Woolf as well! I don't know about the dress, but the sack full of stones sounds like Ms. Woolf.

The question is, why would Virginia Woolf be using her death as a weapon? I think Ryan Adams must have admired her to reference her. So one can interpret this and say that she makes lovers/admirers cry from grief.

This is also not the first woman writer who Mr. Adams has written about. He also wrote about Sylvia Plath...I guess he has a thing for women writers.

What I don't get is the first half...