so i used to think that this song was a song he wrote to a girl with whom he used to be in love but isn't anymore, and this was like his confession saying they both knew it and he's just saying it, even though it's really sad.
but now i kind of think the opposite. it sounds to me like mikel is courting a girl who has a boyfriend, but she really seems to take a shine to him (mikel), and so she is conflicted and doesn't know what to do. the "lie i've lived with you" could be the affair, a guise of a relationship but not a real one because she's still unsure. the whole second stanza is just about how sad she is because of the internal conflict. then in the third stanza, he says "everybody that i know tells me just to let it go" because he has had a series of relationships that meant nothing to him but a lot to the girl, but now he's sitting alone and picturing this girl, implying she's different, which is the only reason he cares that much about the predicament she's in. "you're heart's so big and broke in two" means she's divided; "mind drifting through all you knew," as in she's trying to discern what the best thing to do is.
the whole last part, about being afraid, i think is the best evidence of my interpretation. she's afraid to love this new guy (mikel); afraid to lose, in that she's got something stable now she can rely on and if she leaves him for mikel then she could very well lose that or both; afraid to start a new relationship; afraid to choose which one to be with; etc., and afraid of the truth, that love, for this new attraction, can cause you so much pain. he "felt it too," the painful loving yearning; and he also wishes the circumstances weren't the way they are.
there do seem to be alternate versions of this song, including slightly different lyrics (like "you run from everything they say, hurt the ones you love blindly" and "darlin i wish it wasn't true"), but the meaning doesn't change. still, i can't wait for a studio version of this song. one of the most gorgeous songs i've ever heard.
so i used to think that this song was a song he wrote to a girl with whom he used to be in love but isn't anymore, and this was like his confession saying they both knew it and he's just saying it, even though it's really sad.
but now i kind of think the opposite. it sounds to me like mikel is courting a girl who has a boyfriend, but she really seems to take a shine to him (mikel), and so she is conflicted and doesn't know what to do. the "lie i've lived with you" could be the affair, a guise of a relationship but not a real one because she's still unsure. the whole second stanza is just about how sad she is because of the internal conflict. then in the third stanza, he says "everybody that i know tells me just to let it go" because he has had a series of relationships that meant nothing to him but a lot to the girl, but now he's sitting alone and picturing this girl, implying she's different, which is the only reason he cares that much about the predicament she's in. "you're heart's so big and broke in two" means she's divided; "mind drifting through all you knew," as in she's trying to discern what the best thing to do is.
the whole last part, about being afraid, i think is the best evidence of my interpretation. she's afraid to love this new guy (mikel); afraid to lose, in that she's got something stable now she can rely on and if she leaves him for mikel then she could very well lose that or both; afraid to start a new relationship; afraid to choose which one to be with; etc., and afraid of the truth, that love, for this new attraction, can cause you so much pain. he "felt it too," the painful loving yearning; and he also wishes the circumstances weren't the way they are.
there do seem to be alternate versions of this song, including slightly different lyrics (like "you run from everything they say, hurt the ones you love blindly" and "darlin i wish it wasn't true"), but the meaning doesn't change. still, i can't wait for a studio version of this song. one of the most gorgeous songs i've ever heard.