It's a post-break up song. It's all about looking back on a relationship and how close they once were and it seems to place blame on both of them, much like how a person actually looks at a break up. When you look back you don't say, "It was all her fault," you think about what you AND her did wrong.
Unsentimental
Traveling around
Sure of myself
Sure of it now
He doesn't feel bad about the relationship. His way of thinking about it and coping was just driving or traveling, and he's "sure of [his feelings] now."
But you were standing there so close to me
Like the future was supposed to be
In the aisles of the grocery
And the blocks uptown
Reminiscent of when they would do small thinks like shop with each other and how they were "supposed to be" together.
I remember
Remember well
But if I'd forgotten
Could you tell?
He remembers everything that happened; all the problems, all the fights, and all of the good times. Not like he can prove it to her, they probably cut off communication, hence the "could you tell."
In the shadow of your first attack
I was questioning and looking back
You said, "Baby we don't speak of that"
Like a real aristocrat
Best part of the song IMO. When they first started fighting, he looked back in her past and fought with something she had done, I feel like it might be cheating. Like a "real aristocrat," or someone who feels like they're better than you, she said "we don't speak of that." Whatever she did was admissible, but what he did was worth the argument.
Compound to compound
Lazy and safe
Wanted to leave it
Wanted to wait
Not a litteral jail cell, but it was a relationship that was trapping them. It was "safe" to be with her, why leave when you might not find another? He was in-between breaking up and waiting to see if it would get better.
When the Taxi door was open wide
I pretended I was horrified
By the uniform and gloves outside
Of the courtyard gate
I think it MAYBE a reference to how he'd take the Taxi to her apartment and he'd compare the doorman/bellhop to a warden/security guard.
You're not a victim
But neither am I
Nostalgic for garbage
Desperate for time
Neither of them are really hurt, they just realized they're mainly in a relationship because they're getting old and are afraid of dying alone. When they think of their relationship, they're "nostalgic for garbage."
I could blame it on your mother's hair
Or the colors that your father wears
But I know that I was never fair
You were always fine
He's describing her, and I think juxtaposing it with insults he's said to her. He would "blame it on your mother's hair," which she inherited, or her father's style which she took, but he wasn't "fair," she was fine.
You were standing on another track
Like a real aristocrat
Like two trains passing in the night, they were heading in different directions. They were different people than in the beginning, and like "an aristocrat," she probably thought she outgrew him.
It's a post-break up song. It's all about looking back on a relationship and how close they once were and it seems to place blame on both of them, much like how a person actually looks at a break up. When you look back you don't say, "It was all her fault," you think about what you AND her did wrong.
Unsentimental Traveling around Sure of myself Sure of it now
He doesn't feel bad about the relationship. His way of thinking about it and coping was just driving or traveling, and he's "sure of [his feelings] now."
But you were standing there so close to me Like the future was supposed to be In the aisles of the grocery And the blocks uptown
Reminiscent of when they would do small thinks like shop with each other and how they were "supposed to be" together.
I remember Remember well But if I'd forgotten Could you tell?
He remembers everything that happened; all the problems, all the fights, and all of the good times. Not like he can prove it to her, they probably cut off communication, hence the "could you tell."
In the shadow of your first attack I was questioning and looking back You said, "Baby we don't speak of that" Like a real aristocrat
Best part of the song IMO. When they first started fighting, he looked back in her past and fought with something she had done, I feel like it might be cheating. Like a "real aristocrat," or someone who feels like they're better than you, she said "we don't speak of that." Whatever she did was admissible, but what he did was worth the argument.
Compound to compound Lazy and safe Wanted to leave it Wanted to wait
Not a litteral jail cell, but it was a relationship that was trapping them. It was "safe" to be with her, why leave when you might not find another? He was in-between breaking up and waiting to see if it would get better.
When the Taxi door was open wide I pretended I was horrified By the uniform and gloves outside Of the courtyard gate
I think it MAYBE a reference to how he'd take the Taxi to her apartment and he'd compare the doorman/bellhop to a warden/security guard.
You're not a victim But neither am I Nostalgic for garbage Desperate for time
Neither of them are really hurt, they just realized they're mainly in a relationship because they're getting old and are afraid of dying alone. When they think of their relationship, they're "nostalgic for garbage."
I could blame it on your mother's hair Or the colors that your father wears But I know that I was never fair You were always fine
He's describing her, and I think juxtaposing it with insults he's said to her. He would "blame it on your mother's hair," which she inherited, or her father's style which she took, but he wasn't "fair," she was fine.
You were standing on another track Like a real aristocrat
Like two trains passing in the night, they were heading in different directions. They were different people than in the beginning, and like "an aristocrat," she probably thought she outgrew him.
My $0.02! :)