I think the song is about finding love in later years. The man suspects love might have been sweeter in younger years.
He compares his loveless years and their effect on him with years in the cold and their effect on one's throat. The effect they have is similar--that it is hard to speak. While the cold has this effect literally, the figurative meaning refers to an inability to communicate. In this cold atmosphere, which he compares to "the crease of a strangling winter," he finds it hard to belong to the woman he loves.
He then looks back on the years he spent in other pursuits. While he considers them foolish, he credits them for making a man out of himself, and for granting the waiver he now has to say the things which he couldn't say before.
While he emphasizes that love is still hard, he closes with a simple promise of faithfulness.
I think the song is about finding love in later years. The man suspects love might have been sweeter in younger years.
He compares his loveless years and their effect on him with years in the cold and their effect on one's throat. The effect they have is similar--that it is hard to speak. While the cold has this effect literally, the figurative meaning refers to an inability to communicate. In this cold atmosphere, which he compares to "the crease of a strangling winter," he finds it hard to belong to the woman he loves.
He then looks back on the years he spent in other pursuits. While he considers them foolish, he credits them for making a man out of himself, and for granting the waiver he now has to say the things which he couldn't say before.
While he emphasizes that love is still hard, he closes with a simple promise of faithfulness.
Well said.
Well said.