I find it hard to truly master all of the subtexts in this song. Of course I can see that it is primarily about the center of extreme tension between romantic engagement and the urge to let things develop over time. But the drive to delay the relationship five years seems to me to be quite elusive.
What is the speaker waiting for exactly? At first, I considered sex, or marriage. Then, he blows that inference right out of my hand by stating that he had missed the chance to draw her near. I couldn't help but be taken aback and ask myself, "What the hell? He didn't even get close to her in that time!?"
So what's the reason for this ridiculous delay? On a literal level, the speaker tells us. The woman, her teacher, and the neighbors all suggest that a five-year wait time (for some stage of engagement in the relationship) is ideal, if not necessary. A female friend, with an envious frustration, tells him that's bollocks and that he should go for her right then.
But he doesn't listen to her, and then they are eventually separated. And he's left with that raw emotional drive inside him as four more years go by. With a hamlet-like indecision, he reasons that he is solving a puzzle through delay, "this is just a code to decipher."
How he reaches this thought process also escapes me. Maybe it has something to do with the line "found my ploughman, chased the piper," which I don't fully understand. I can think of the piper part as an allusion to the story of the Pied Piper, who lead the rats out of a city. So perhaps he's admitting that he is hunting her down in his mind..or maybe that his thoughts have led him in a stray, however organized he pretends they can be (juxtaposing the image of all the rats falling into a line, but ending up in demise).
If you put a gun to my head and demanded an interpretation, I would conclude that the song is about the extremely passionate desire for a romance with someone who does not feel ready to reciprocate. Compounding that is all the "neighbors," "teachers," envious other parties, and "the ones that talk" which create these oppressive social circumstances that create these tensions in the first place. At the end of the day, he is left with his extreme fever of an unrequited love, infatuation, or lust (you be the judge).
I absolutely adore the vocals in this song, and the crescendo at the 1-line chorus, and the music video (which you MUST see if you haven't already--it's phenomenally creative--check it out on YouTube).
@proofplz I think the five years, are a period of mourning. This romantic interest, is entangled in a severely painful loss. Either, the person he's referring too, has had her life decimated by losing someone that meant the world to her; or the writer, has lost someone that he was supposed to be close to, but wasn't. The singer may not want to appear callus, by moving on so quickly. Therefore he's soliciting the advice of the people close. I'd put more weight on the first scenario, since the opening line refers to "Her waiting five...
@proofplz I think the five years, are a period of mourning. This romantic interest, is entangled in a severely painful loss. Either, the person he's referring too, has had her life decimated by losing someone that meant the world to her; or the writer, has lost someone that he was supposed to be close to, but wasn't. The singer may not want to appear callus, by moving on so quickly. Therefore he's soliciting the advice of the people close. I'd put more weight on the first scenario, since the opening line refers to "Her waiting five years", rather than him.
@mrdennmann - I'm not saying your interpretation is wrong but I'm not seeing much from the text to support the idea that the speaker is waiting due to a painful loss. I think that the only reason she told herself to wait 5 years had to do with the advice she was getting from people like her teacher, friends, and family, who are each trying to discourage her from getting locked into the serious relationship/engagement/etc until later in life. Even if that was referring to a big loss, 5 years would still be excessive. Given that "five...
@mrdennmann - I'm not saying your interpretation is wrong but I'm not seeing much from the text to support the idea that the speaker is waiting due to a painful loss. I think that the only reason she told herself to wait 5 years had to do with the advice she was getting from people like her teacher, friends, and family, who are each trying to discourage her from getting locked into the serious relationship/engagement/etc until later in life. Even if that was referring to a big loss, 5 years would still be excessive. Given that "five years" is an anagram of I say fever, it may just be that it feels like a 5 year wait and all of the durations are hyperbole. I remember in my early 20s, being told I had to wait to pursue any girl I wanted badly enough would have felt like 5 years, or more.
I find it hard to truly master all of the subtexts in this song. Of course I can see that it is primarily about the center of extreme tension between romantic engagement and the urge to let things develop over time. But the drive to delay the relationship five years seems to me to be quite elusive.
What is the speaker waiting for exactly? At first, I considered sex, or marriage. Then, he blows that inference right out of my hand by stating that he had missed the chance to draw her near. I couldn't help but be taken aback and ask myself, "What the hell? He didn't even get close to her in that time!?"
So what's the reason for this ridiculous delay? On a literal level, the speaker tells us. The woman, her teacher, and the neighbors all suggest that a five-year wait time (for some stage of engagement in the relationship) is ideal, if not necessary. A female friend, with an envious frustration, tells him that's bollocks and that he should go for her right then.
But he doesn't listen to her, and then they are eventually separated. And he's left with that raw emotional drive inside him as four more years go by. With a hamlet-like indecision, he reasons that he is solving a puzzle through delay, "this is just a code to decipher."
How he reaches this thought process also escapes me. Maybe it has something to do with the line "found my ploughman, chased the piper," which I don't fully understand. I can think of the piper part as an allusion to the story of the Pied Piper, who lead the rats out of a city. So perhaps he's admitting that he is hunting her down in his mind..or maybe that his thoughts have led him in a stray, however organized he pretends they can be (juxtaposing the image of all the rats falling into a line, but ending up in demise).
If you put a gun to my head and demanded an interpretation, I would conclude that the song is about the extremely passionate desire for a romance with someone who does not feel ready to reciprocate. Compounding that is all the "neighbors," "teachers," envious other parties, and "the ones that talk" which create these oppressive social circumstances that create these tensions in the first place. At the end of the day, he is left with his extreme fever of an unrequited love, infatuation, or lust (you be the judge).
I absolutely adore the vocals in this song, and the crescendo at the 1-line chorus, and the music video (which you MUST see if you haven't already--it's phenomenally creative--check it out on YouTube).
Maybe the girl was underage.
Maybe the girl was underage.
When are you releasing your next expanded-length novel???????????
When are you releasing your next expanded-length novel???????????
@proofplz I think the five years, are a period of mourning. This romantic interest, is entangled in a severely painful loss. Either, the person he's referring too, has had her life decimated by losing someone that meant the world to her; or the writer, has lost someone that he was supposed to be close to, but wasn't. The singer may not want to appear callus, by moving on so quickly. Therefore he's soliciting the advice of the people close. I'd put more weight on the first scenario, since the opening line refers to "Her waiting five...
@proofplz I think the five years, are a period of mourning. This romantic interest, is entangled in a severely painful loss. Either, the person he's referring too, has had her life decimated by losing someone that meant the world to her; or the writer, has lost someone that he was supposed to be close to, but wasn't. The singer may not want to appear callus, by moving on so quickly. Therefore he's soliciting the advice of the people close. I'd put more weight on the first scenario, since the opening line refers to "Her waiting five years", rather than him.
@mrdennmann - I'm not saying your interpretation is wrong but I'm not seeing much from the text to support the idea that the speaker is waiting due to a painful loss. I think that the only reason she told herself to wait 5 years had to do with the advice she was getting from people like her teacher, friends, and family, who are each trying to discourage her from getting locked into the serious relationship/engagement/etc until later in life. Even if that was referring to a big loss, 5 years would still be excessive. Given that "five...
@mrdennmann - I'm not saying your interpretation is wrong but I'm not seeing much from the text to support the idea that the speaker is waiting due to a painful loss. I think that the only reason she told herself to wait 5 years had to do with the advice she was getting from people like her teacher, friends, and family, who are each trying to discourage her from getting locked into the serious relationship/engagement/etc until later in life. Even if that was referring to a big loss, 5 years would still be excessive. Given that "five years" is an anagram of I say fever, it may just be that it feels like a 5 year wait and all of the durations are hyperbole. I remember in my early 20s, being told I had to wait to pursue any girl I wanted badly enough would have felt like 5 years, or more.