The real meaning behind this song: A few people hit on it, a few people were WAY off. Infidelity, plain and simple. The stranger describes "the mystery guest" that lurks either in our past, or present, and is enoug to damage a current relationship. "Well we all have a face that we hide away forever". It isn't OUR face, as some people believe on here, it's another lover's face he his talking about. "Though we share so many secrets, there are some we never tell." Meaning the secrets we have about "other relationships" that would put our butts in the cooker. "Don't you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself" Meaning when you cheat, you are a changed person, and feelings change, and it's obvious. The part that mentions "don't be afraid to try again, everyone goes south, every now and then" Meaning we all screw up. "You've done it, why can't someone else, you should know by now, you've been there yourself"...meaning there was a time YOU did this to someone, and now you are getting a taste of your own medicine, so swallow it all! "You may never understand how the stranger is inspired, though he is not always evil, and he is not always wrong". Meaning your better half could have gone out and executed this one perfectly, and the other person was a victim to it...they had no idea about YOU! In essence, he is sometimes INNOCENT. To sum it up, the Stranger is the "mystery guest" hiding behind curtain #1. You have no idea who he or she is, and that makes them....THE STRANGER.
You put forth a very interesting alternative meaning, but I believe it is incorrect for a few reasons:
You put forth a very interesting alternative meaning, but I believe it is incorrect for a few reasons:
1) If your interpretation is correct the line 'did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself' does not seem like a perspective a man would write and, even were he to, also seems a little crass/vulgar for a lyric from this artist.
1) If your interpretation is correct the line 'did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself' does not seem like a perspective a man would write and, even were he to, also seems a little crass/vulgar for a lyric from this artist.
2) Based on the line 'we all have a face that we hide away forever', your interpretation assumes that every person on the planet is an unfaithful piece of human excrement. I assure you, this is...
2) Based on the line 'we all have a face that we hide away forever', your interpretation assumes that every person on the planet is an unfaithful piece of human excrement. I assure you, this is not the case (though, I will concede, most deffo are).
3) Given your interpretation, why did the singer 'come home to a woman' that he 'could not recognize'? If the stranger was, indeed, not a mask worn that confused him, he should be able to recognize his cheating wife.
Again, I find your interpretation novel, inventive, and interesting but, ultimately, unlikely to be correct.
The real meaning behind this song: A few people hit on it, a few people were WAY off. Infidelity, plain and simple. The stranger describes "the mystery guest" that lurks either in our past, or present, and is enoug to damage a current relationship. "Well we all have a face that we hide away forever". It isn't OUR face, as some people believe on here, it's another lover's face he his talking about. "Though we share so many secrets, there are some we never tell." Meaning the secrets we have about "other relationships" that would put our butts in the cooker. "Don't you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself" Meaning when you cheat, you are a changed person, and feelings change, and it's obvious. The part that mentions "don't be afraid to try again, everyone goes south, every now and then" Meaning we all screw up. "You've done it, why can't someone else, you should know by now, you've been there yourself"...meaning there was a time YOU did this to someone, and now you are getting a taste of your own medicine, so swallow it all! "You may never understand how the stranger is inspired, though he is not always evil, and he is not always wrong". Meaning your better half could have gone out and executed this one perfectly, and the other person was a victim to it...they had no idea about YOU! In essence, he is sometimes INNOCENT. To sum it up, the Stranger is the "mystery guest" hiding behind curtain #1. You have no idea who he or she is, and that makes them....THE STRANGER.
@ItalianDJ
@ItalianDJ
You put forth a very interesting alternative meaning, but I believe it is incorrect for a few reasons:
You put forth a very interesting alternative meaning, but I believe it is incorrect for a few reasons:
1) If your interpretation is correct the line 'did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself' does not seem like a perspective a man would write and, even were he to, also seems a little crass/vulgar for a lyric from this artist.
1) If your interpretation is correct the line 'did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself' does not seem like a perspective a man would write and, even were he to, also seems a little crass/vulgar for a lyric from this artist.
2) Based on the line 'we all have a face that we hide away forever', your interpretation assumes that every person on the planet is an unfaithful piece of human excrement. I assure you, this is...
2) Based on the line 'we all have a face that we hide away forever', your interpretation assumes that every person on the planet is an unfaithful piece of human excrement. I assure you, this is not the case (though, I will concede, most deffo are).
3) Given your interpretation, why did the singer 'come home to a woman' that he 'could not recognize'? If the stranger was, indeed, not a mask worn that confused him, he should be able to recognize his cheating wife.
Again, I find your interpretation novel, inventive, and interesting but, ultimately, unlikely to be correct.