To me, this song is about a man who is uncertain/uneasy about a relationship with a woman. The song has an air of sadness, but with some hope still. He loves this woman ("Yes, I love you..."), but questions himself ("Sometimes I say the stupid things i think/ I mean I sometimes think the stupidest things"; "I wonder how the boy feels") while downplaying the importance of his emotions when he says "Yes, I love you/ I mean I need to love." It seems like he is implying that he thinks any woman would do because he is insecure alone, and needs to have someone to love to feel secure. But this woman doesn't seem to love him back:
"Flick your eyes at mine so briefly" - she won't maintain eye contact with him (or anyone really):
"Eyes like marbles on a washing machine" - she seems to be looking around, interested in everything in her environment except for him. This is more obvious in the last verse: "And though your open eyes/ They're bored upon the overflowing pipes above me." All these references to her eyes/eye contact makes me think he is extremely interested in her and wants badly to look her in the eyes and say something to her (Perhaps tell her out much he really loves her?)
He also mentions that other men mind her attractive: "You glance a ricochet from every alpha male behind me." However, he never makes a reference to her being interested in any other man - just interested in the things in her environment. She won't even kiss him until she addresses her own needs first: "Katherine, kiss me/ Flick your cigarette then kiss me." This leads me to think that she is so absorbed in her own world that attention from all men (not just him) just isn't tremendously important in this particular moment (or perhaps in her life at all). It doesn't seem like she cares about material things that much either ("Your leather jacket lies in sticky pools of cider blackberry"), so her mind must be elsewhere. Perhaps she has something else on her mind or maybe there's something about her that he doesn't know yet - that he hasn't figured out.
However, he sees tremendous beauty and in her, and she sparks his curiosity. He is absorbed in her, yet has a strong feeling that she isn't the least bit interested in him. ("And do you ever wonder how the boy feels?")
He realizes that she has the ability to break his heart, splitting him right down the middle, without even realizing it:
"Katherine, kiss me/ Slippy little lips will split me/ Split me where your eye won't hit me"
In this scene, they're in a neon-lit allyway ("in the allyway, by Jackies...in the sodium light"). It seems like they're doing something sexual "Jacking in the sodium light" - maybe she's giving him a handjob? Or maybe "Jacking" references someting else I didn't think of... Anyway, she is half-hearted with everything she does when she's with him (with the references to her flicking her cigarette, looking everywhere except at him ("eyes like marbles on a washing machine")). Even while they're doing something intimate with each other, she's bored. Maybe she's just with him because PDA turns her on? Or maybe it's just something to do? Either way, he's not important to her. He protects himself from being hurt by her though when he says "Tonight I don't mind/ Because I never wondered how the girl feels." By purposely avoiding the topic of their relationship, he avoids letting her know how much he loves her, therefore avoiding being visibly hurt by her. He's enjoying every little bit of time with her before it inevitably ends.
To me, this song is about a man who is uncertain/uneasy about a relationship with a woman. The song has an air of sadness, but with some hope still. He loves this woman ("Yes, I love you..."), but questions himself ("Sometimes I say the stupid things i think/ I mean I sometimes think the stupidest things"; "I wonder how the boy feels") while downplaying the importance of his emotions when he says "Yes, I love you/ I mean I need to love." It seems like he is implying that he thinks any woman would do because he is insecure alone, and needs to have someone to love to feel secure. But this woman doesn't seem to love him back:
"Flick your eyes at mine so briefly" - she won't maintain eye contact with him (or anyone really): "Eyes like marbles on a washing machine" - she seems to be looking around, interested in everything in her environment except for him. This is more obvious in the last verse: "And though your open eyes/ They're bored upon the overflowing pipes above me." All these references to her eyes/eye contact makes me think he is extremely interested in her and wants badly to look her in the eyes and say something to her (Perhaps tell her out much he really loves her?)
He also mentions that other men mind her attractive: "You glance a ricochet from every alpha male behind me." However, he never makes a reference to her being interested in any other man - just interested in the things in her environment. She won't even kiss him until she addresses her own needs first: "Katherine, kiss me/ Flick your cigarette then kiss me." This leads me to think that she is so absorbed in her own world that attention from all men (not just him) just isn't tremendously important in this particular moment (or perhaps in her life at all). It doesn't seem like she cares about material things that much either ("Your leather jacket lies in sticky pools of cider blackberry"), so her mind must be elsewhere. Perhaps she has something else on her mind or maybe there's something about her that he doesn't know yet - that he hasn't figured out.
However, he sees tremendous beauty and in her, and she sparks his curiosity. He is absorbed in her, yet has a strong feeling that she isn't the least bit interested in him. ("And do you ever wonder how the boy feels?")
He realizes that she has the ability to break his heart, splitting him right down the middle, without even realizing it:
"Katherine, kiss me/ Slippy little lips will split me/ Split me where your eye won't hit me"
In this scene, they're in a neon-lit allyway ("in the allyway, by Jackies...in the sodium light"). It seems like they're doing something sexual "Jacking in the sodium light" - maybe she's giving him a handjob? Or maybe "Jacking" references someting else I didn't think of... Anyway, she is half-hearted with everything she does when she's with him (with the references to her flicking her cigarette, looking everywhere except at him ("eyes like marbles on a washing machine")). Even while they're doing something intimate with each other, she's bored. Maybe she's just with him because PDA turns her on? Or maybe it's just something to do? Either way, he's not important to her. He protects himself from being hurt by her though when he says "Tonight I don't mind/ Because I never wondered how the girl feels." By purposely avoiding the topic of their relationship, he avoids letting her know how much he loves her, therefore avoiding being visibly hurt by her. He's enjoying every little bit of time with her before it inevitably ends.