i, too, fell in love with this song the very first time i heard it! however, i do not think it has anything to do with not wearing his heart on his sleeve, but rather the opposite... if you listen to the rest of their music you know that their lyrics are always pretty deep and looking for more meaning out of life and the world.
i think that ultimately he's saying that he's looking for more out of a relationship than the one he's in, he realizes that the girl he's with isn't for him, and he wants out, and he's trying to get her to understand.
"so go on, and i will refrain and i'll keep running this never-ending race" - he sees the bigger picture, the "never-ending race" is life and part of it is the relationships we form, and he's telling her that she can be upset with him but he's going to keep on moving forward
"maybe next time will be the right time, maybe next time will be your time" - he's telling her that life is unpredictable but remaining hopeful, saying that no they're not right for each other but there is someone out there for both of them
"so save your scissors for someone else's skin, my surface is so tough i don't think the blade will dig in" - he's telling her to save her fight for the right one, because he understands a deeper meaning to relationships and life and he knows he's doing the right thing by letting her go, so just let it happen
"save your strength, save your wasted time, there's no way that i want you to be left behind" - he's telling her that she is wasting her time fighting with/for him, again, because it just isn't right, she isn't for him, and he knows that, but in the same regard, he cares about her enough to want her to move on and be happy
"why does it always seem that every time i turn around someone falls in love with me... this has never been my soul intention and i have never claimed a patent on such inventions" ... like the case of this girl, he is just trying to go through life and get to know people, but they seem to find him so unique that they fall in love with him so quickly, and he's never asked for this nor does he want it
"there is something that i must confess to you tonight and that is i expect nothing less from you tonight" - he's telling her that he expects of her nothing less than he expects of himself... he wants her to stop fighting the inevitable/the right and just move on because that's what he is doing
overall, i think he's just a little baffled at the way the whole courting ritual has gone down for him... he sees it as an addition to his life but not a necessity, and he wants that addition to be as good as possible so he's waiting for the right one... unfortunately for the girls who aren't the right one, they need to save their fight for someone else because he knows what he's looking for
so, more or less, i think he is wearing his heart on his sleeve, letting people know that if it's not right, he's not going to waste his time
i, too, fell in love with this song the very first time i heard it! however, i do not think it has anything to do with not wearing his heart on his sleeve, but rather the opposite... if you listen to the rest of their music you know that their lyrics are always pretty deep and looking for more meaning out of life and the world.
i think that ultimately he's saying that he's looking for more out of a relationship than the one he's in, he realizes that the girl he's with isn't for him, and he wants out, and he's trying to get her to understand.
"so go on, and i will refrain and i'll keep running this never-ending race" - he sees the bigger picture, the "never-ending race" is life and part of it is the relationships we form, and he's telling her that she can be upset with him but he's going to keep on moving forward
"maybe next time will be the right time, maybe next time will be your time" - he's telling her that life is unpredictable but remaining hopeful, saying that no they're not right for each other but there is someone out there for both of them
"so save your scissors for someone else's skin, my surface is so tough i don't think the blade will dig in" - he's telling her to save her fight for the right one, because he understands a deeper meaning to relationships and life and he knows he's doing the right thing by letting her go, so just let it happen
"save your strength, save your wasted time, there's no way that i want you to be left behind" - he's telling her that she is wasting her time fighting with/for him, again, because it just isn't right, she isn't for him, and he knows that, but in the same regard, he cares about her enough to want her to move on and be happy
"why does it always seem that every time i turn around someone falls in love with me... this has never been my soul intention and i have never claimed a patent on such inventions" ... like the case of this girl, he is just trying to go through life and get to know people, but they seem to find him so unique that they fall in love with him so quickly, and he's never asked for this nor does he want it
"there is something that i must confess to you tonight and that is i expect nothing less from you tonight" - he's telling her that he expects of her nothing less than he expects of himself... he wants her to stop fighting the inevitable/the right and just move on because that's what he is doing
overall, i think he's just a little baffled at the way the whole courting ritual has gone down for him... he sees it as an addition to his life but not a necessity, and he wants that addition to be as good as possible so he's waiting for the right one... unfortunately for the girls who aren't the right one, they need to save their fight for someone else because he knows what he's looking for
so, more or less, i think he is wearing his heart on his sleeve, letting people know that if it's not right, he's not going to waste his time