First off, what an amazing band. I'm so lucky to have stumbled onto their music.
Anyway, I'm gonna start off by making the assumption that perhaps the girl in this story is dead. Why else would her parents be "crying over things they can't tell her?" She most likely committed suicide, encouraged by a mixture of the breakup and her refusal to take her pills (which were most likely anti-depressants.) Johnathan then goes into the past to explain their love.
So the father does not approve of their marriage, or their love... Perhaps he even forbids it. Jonathan (assuming he wrote this based on his experiences) has some sort of understanding of this... Which is why he believes that he'd be crazy ("Who should be slapped into a straitjacket") if he were to act on his feelings.
"The fire by which we both were almost killed, glowed so beautiful, don't doubt it."
I think that the fire he speaks of is metaphorical. I believe their chemistry together is hazardous to the lifestyles set for them. This would explain why the dad forbids their relationship, and why Jonathan subconsciously agrees.
He tries to create a role in which to fit into her life, but it doesn't seem to work, and he is deprived of his need to be needed... He then goes off into explaining how this eventually turns into a bitterness which is bad for the relationship, but he isn't clear as to whether or not this has anything to do with why he wasn't good for her in the first place.
And so he breaks off the relationship, and we're back to the first verse of the song.
I personally have friends who've dealt with similar struggles. Being in a relationship with someone who takes anti-depressants is extremely difficult. How would you feel if you knew that you weren't enough for the woman you loved? That she could never be happy even with you, because she would always have a need for the pills?
First off, what an amazing band. I'm so lucky to have stumbled onto their music.
Anyway, I'm gonna start off by making the assumption that perhaps the girl in this story is dead. Why else would her parents be "crying over things they can't tell her?" She most likely committed suicide, encouraged by a mixture of the breakup and her refusal to take her pills (which were most likely anti-depressants.) Johnathan then goes into the past to explain their love.
So the father does not approve of their marriage, or their love... Perhaps he even forbids it. Jonathan (assuming he wrote this based on his experiences) has some sort of understanding of this... Which is why he believes that he'd be crazy ("Who should be slapped into a straitjacket") if he were to act on his feelings.
"The fire by which we both were almost killed, glowed so beautiful, don't doubt it." I think that the fire he speaks of is metaphorical. I believe their chemistry together is hazardous to the lifestyles set for them. This would explain why the dad forbids their relationship, and why Jonathan subconsciously agrees.
He tries to create a role in which to fit into her life, but it doesn't seem to work, and he is deprived of his need to be needed... He then goes off into explaining how this eventually turns into a bitterness which is bad for the relationship, but he isn't clear as to whether or not this has anything to do with why he wasn't good for her in the first place.
And so he breaks off the relationship, and we're back to the first verse of the song.
I personally have friends who've dealt with similar struggles. Being in a relationship with someone who takes anti-depressants is extremely difficult. How would you feel if you knew that you weren't enough for the woman you loved? That she could never be happy even with you, because she would always have a need for the pills?
What a beautiful, but sad song.
wow you just explained that so perfectly, thank you.
wow you just explained that so perfectly, thank you.