according to my song-by-song interpretation of the album as a whole narrative, this track picks up right where "occident" left off.
our narrator has known the relationship was ending for some time, and this song is an after-the-fact reflection of the relationship's slow unravel. she reflects on when the relationship was young and things were good. she then asks her lover whether his heart was ever really in it, whether he ever really belonged to her in the first place.
a repeated theme in this song is the "lawlessness" of love. when she knows it is over, she sleeps, "like a solider, without rest-- but there is no treason where there is only lawlessness." this means that she can't blame him, she can't blame anyone. with a lawless thing like love, in which there are no set rules, it's really impossible to place blame. the "terror" that she speaks of is, i think, the fear that she experiences while waiting for something to happen. will it end, as she knows it will? when? waiting can be terrifying. the thought of losing love after it has been pushed too far can be terrifying. however, she probably blames herself more than anything, as sonikyouth has said. she says that when she leaves, she will bear her former lover no ill will: that she will, in fact, be thinking of him and wishing him well.
then comes the last verse: "we land, i stand, but i wait for the sound of the bell. i have to catch a cab, and my bags are at the carousel. and then-- lord, just then-- time alone will only tell." she leaves to go back to her hometown, but has not yet taken her things from her lover's home or officially ended things between them.
according to my song-by-song interpretation of the album as a whole narrative, this track picks up right where "occident" left off.
our narrator has known the relationship was ending for some time, and this song is an after-the-fact reflection of the relationship's slow unravel. she reflects on when the relationship was young and things were good. she then asks her lover whether his heart was ever really in it, whether he ever really belonged to her in the first place.
a repeated theme in this song is the "lawlessness" of love. when she knows it is over, she sleeps, "like a solider, without rest-- but there is no treason where there is only lawlessness." this means that she can't blame him, she can't blame anyone. with a lawless thing like love, in which there are no set rules, it's really impossible to place blame. the "terror" that she speaks of is, i think, the fear that she experiences while waiting for something to happen. will it end, as she knows it will? when? waiting can be terrifying. the thought of losing love after it has been pushed too far can be terrifying. however, she probably blames herself more than anything, as sonikyouth has said. she says that when she leaves, she will bear her former lover no ill will: that she will, in fact, be thinking of him and wishing him well.
then comes the last verse: "we land, i stand, but i wait for the sound of the bell. i have to catch a cab, and my bags are at the carousel. and then-- lord, just then-- time alone will only tell." she leaves to go back to her hometown, but has not yet taken her things from her lover's home or officially ended things between them.