ok for the record, Ani is Bisexual, always has been and always will be. Her partner currently is a man but she has had relationships with both men and women in her past. This particular song is about a relationship she had with a women during her time in New York. She had been living there a year prior and this woman was new, from Virginia.
This relationship ended somehow, and her ex got involved with another woman who shot heroin (most likely: "syringes") and got her ex into heroin. This is why her friend is slumped on the bathroom floor; she over-dosed and needs medial attention Ani, still really caring for this woman, doesn't know what to do.
She expresses "i blame her/never seen one of your lovers do you so much harm/i loved you first and you know i would prefer /if she didn't empty her syringes into your arm" and is conflicted with either making a joke of the situation, taking up the role of lover again, or the role of friend ("maybe i'm supposed to make one of my famous jokes that makes everything ok/maybe i'm supposed to be the handsome prince who rides up and unties your hands/or maybe i'm supposed to be the furrow-browed friend who thinks she understands")
The end of the song doesn't resolve her conflict as she feels helpless to help this woman who is flushing her life away. ("so i guess i'll just stand here with my back against the wall/while you distill your whole life down to a 911 call")
ok for the record, Ani is Bisexual, always has been and always will be. Her partner currently is a man but she has had relationships with both men and women in her past. This particular song is about a relationship she had with a women during her time in New York. She had been living there a year prior and this woman was new, from Virginia. This relationship ended somehow, and her ex got involved with another woman who shot heroin (most likely: "syringes") and got her ex into heroin. This is why her friend is slumped on the bathroom floor; she over-dosed and needs medial attention Ani, still really caring for this woman, doesn't know what to do. She expresses "i blame her/never seen one of your lovers do you so much harm/i loved you first and you know i would prefer /if she didn't empty her syringes into your arm" and is conflicted with either making a joke of the situation, taking up the role of lover again, or the role of friend ("maybe i'm supposed to make one of my famous jokes that makes everything ok/maybe i'm supposed to be the handsome prince who rides up and unties your hands/or maybe i'm supposed to be the furrow-browed friend who thinks she understands") The end of the song doesn't resolve her conflict as she feels helpless to help this woman who is flushing her life away. ("so i guess i'll just stand here with my back against the wall/while you distill your whole life down to a 911 call")