Lyric discussion by seulenstein0 

Cover art for Days of Elaine lyrics by Decemberists, The

this song is about a mother telling her son about her youth. usually when people refer to the time in their lives before that had children as their days where they cared most about themselves. So its likely the mother figure is named elaine, as well as saying "those were the days of elaine". i think the decemberists songs are almost always straight forward, yet still interestingly worded stories.