My initial take on "Come Back, Margaret" was that it was about an affair. Because it's right after "Tears for Affairs" on the album (Let's Get Out of This Country), I always felt like this was the back story to the eventual peace she finds in "Tears for Affairs". That being said...
She beckons Margaret to come back because he "wants to explore you" which is obviously of a sensual nature but also because she'd "like to explore you." Like get to know the other woman a little better, see who the competition is and what she's all about. Women love to gossip and get really into the details about stuff like that.
The line about the tears in her eyes for love for this cheating man is directed towards Margaret, almost like 'can't you see what this is doing to me? why did you do this to us!?' A relatively universal sentiment for the significant other to the 'Other Woman'.
"I like the free days with no expectations / I like it my way with no limitation" refers to the freedom of being single and getting everything her way again. But the last two lines of this verse tell of the pain of the way the relationship ended. She still cries for him even though she paradoxically despises him. It's like, by the time the affair occurred/she uncovered the affair she already loved this man but then for him to do such a thing is just truly despicable. So despite his awful deeds unto her, she can't help but still love him (she's not over that yet.)
"Darling, you will always be around / Whether my mood's up or if it's down" is about the man she loved. When you fall in love, you think of someone all the time. And when it ends (good or bad) you still think of them at some of the most unexpected times. So this line is saying that he's still in her heart no matter what happened.
The rest of this verse "In dreams I try to take you far away / But you never stay / No, you never stay" is, because of the context, about the man. By taking him far away she means that she is trying to get over him and it doesn't work. But if you took that part of the song out of context, it could be about Margaret too, about wanting her to go away but she never stays out of the way.
I never thought this was about being stuck with the man, I thought it was about loving him first and not being able to stop thinking about him no matter how much it hurts but eh it's all interpretation.
As dividee5 says, it definitely could be about her grandmother, and while I don't know what it's MEANT to be about, I think the beautiful thing about music is that everyone gets something different out of it. In the case that Margaret is the narrator's late grandmother, the "him" involved would most likely be the grandfather (or possibly step-grandfather/lover of the grandma). In the case that Margaret is the step-grandmother/lover of her grandfather who left, it would also make sense. She no longer has to live up to the expectations of this woman though she still misses her and thinks of taking her ("far away") on vacation.
My initial take on "Come Back, Margaret" was that it was about an affair. Because it's right after "Tears for Affairs" on the album (Let's Get Out of This Country), I always felt like this was the back story to the eventual peace she finds in "Tears for Affairs". That being said...
She beckons Margaret to come back because he "wants to explore you" which is obviously of a sensual nature but also because she'd "like to explore you." Like get to know the other woman a little better, see who the competition is and what she's all about. Women love to gossip and get really into the details about stuff like that. The line about the tears in her eyes for love for this cheating man is directed towards Margaret, almost like 'can't you see what this is doing to me? why did you do this to us!?' A relatively universal sentiment for the significant other to the 'Other Woman'.
"I like the free days with no expectations / I like it my way with no limitation" refers to the freedom of being single and getting everything her way again. But the last two lines of this verse tell of the pain of the way the relationship ended. She still cries for him even though she paradoxically despises him. It's like, by the time the affair occurred/she uncovered the affair she already loved this man but then for him to do such a thing is just truly despicable. So despite his awful deeds unto her, she can't help but still love him (she's not over that yet.)
"Darling, you will always be around / Whether my mood's up or if it's down" is about the man she loved. When you fall in love, you think of someone all the time. And when it ends (good or bad) you still think of them at some of the most unexpected times. So this line is saying that he's still in her heart no matter what happened. The rest of this verse "In dreams I try to take you far away / But you never stay / No, you never stay" is, because of the context, about the man. By taking him far away she means that she is trying to get over him and it doesn't work. But if you took that part of the song out of context, it could be about Margaret too, about wanting her to go away but she never stays out of the way.
I never thought this was about being stuck with the man, I thought it was about loving him first and not being able to stop thinking about him no matter how much it hurts but eh it's all interpretation.
As dividee5 says, it definitely could be about her grandmother, and while I don't know what it's MEANT to be about, I think the beautiful thing about music is that everyone gets something different out of it. In the case that Margaret is the narrator's late grandmother, the "him" involved would most likely be the grandfather (or possibly step-grandfather/lover of the grandma). In the case that Margaret is the step-grandmother/lover of her grandfather who left, it would also make sense. She no longer has to live up to the expectations of this woman though she still misses her and thinks of taking her ("far away") on vacation.