I think jazzy has it down pretty much exactly, but i would like to point out a few other things I noticed.
(and yes, I do agree this is about a girlfriend, not a child at all. the lyrics just don't support it)
I agree that he is in love with a strong will, independent, "free spirit" type of person. but I also think the beauty of the song is that he is portraying himself as "in love" but it's a passionless "idea" of love, that isn't going anywhere.
"I once gave to my Rebecca a belated promise ring"
Why is the ring "belated"? He makes it sound like an afterthought - he's loved her and only now given her the ring? She knows he is not really the one for her, because although he thinks he loves her, she can see the truth of the matter so....
"And she sold it to the waitress on a train"
It doesn't mean that much to her, and he doesn't seem completely upset about it. Not because he is too in love with her to look past her faults, but he only -believes- himself to be in love with her.
"I may find her by the phone but with a fashion magazine
She may kiss me when her girlfriends leave again
They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take"
I think I could never love another girl
To be free atop a tree stump and to look the other way
While she shines my mother's imitation pearls"
The whole feeling of this stanza is uncertainty. he "may" find her, she "may kiss" him when she is finished with other things, but he is clearly not a priority in her life, and he only -THINKS- he could "never love another girl". The mention of the imitation pearls bring another visual of something beautiful but completely fake and valueless.
So in conclusion, I think it has a sort of dreamy, airy quality about it (as many of his songs do) and I get this thread running through the song of a sort of lazy romance...he "loves" her, but without any passion or intensity, it's just this attraction that he can't help, while the very same free spirit and intelligence that he admires in Rebecca is what turns her off to him. It may be a general misunderstanding of women in general ("they both [the women, Rebecca and his mother] call to me with words I never knew")
They are both in a relationship, but it has no future and both of them know it won't last, so they are focused on enjoying the present and acknowledge that nothing will come of it.
I think the ring is belated because he cheated on her. The only way you can be too late to promise is if you've already broken it. To me, it sounds like he is trying to earn her trust and love back.
I think the ring is belated because he cheated on her. The only way you can be too late to promise is if you've already broken it. To me, it sounds like he is trying to earn her trust and love back.
I think jazzy has it down pretty much exactly, but i would like to point out a few other things I noticed.
(and yes, I do agree this is about a girlfriend, not a child at all. the lyrics just don't support it)
I agree that he is in love with a strong will, independent, "free spirit" type of person. but I also think the beauty of the song is that he is portraying himself as "in love" but it's a passionless "idea" of love, that isn't going anywhere.
"I once gave to my Rebecca a belated promise ring"
Why is the ring "belated"? He makes it sound like an afterthought - he's loved her and only now given her the ring? She knows he is not really the one for her, because although he thinks he loves her, she can see the truth of the matter so....
"And she sold it to the waitress on a train"
It doesn't mean that much to her, and he doesn't seem completely upset about it. Not because he is too in love with her to look past her faults, but he only -believes- himself to be in love with her.
"I may find her by the phone but with a fashion magazine She may kiss me when her girlfriends leave again They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" I think I could never love another girl To be free atop a tree stump and to look the other way While she shines my mother's imitation pearls"
The whole feeling of this stanza is uncertainty. he "may" find her, she "may kiss" him when she is finished with other things, but he is clearly not a priority in her life, and he only -THINKS- he could "never love another girl". The mention of the imitation pearls bring another visual of something beautiful but completely fake and valueless.
So in conclusion, I think it has a sort of dreamy, airy quality about it (as many of his songs do) and I get this thread running through the song of a sort of lazy romance...he "loves" her, but without any passion or intensity, it's just this attraction that he can't help, while the very same free spirit and intelligence that he admires in Rebecca is what turns her off to him. It may be a general misunderstanding of women in general ("they both [the women, Rebecca and his mother] call to me with words I never knew")
They are both in a relationship, but it has no future and both of them know it won't last, so they are focused on enjoying the present and acknowledge that nothing will come of it.
I think the ring is belated because he cheated on her. The only way you can be too late to promise is if you've already broken it. To me, it sounds like he is trying to earn her trust and love back.
I think the ring is belated because he cheated on her. The only way you can be too late to promise is if you've already broken it. To me, it sounds like he is trying to earn her trust and love back.