I think the subject is either abortion or the break-up of a marriage, neither is particularly satisfying though. Also, although baby's breath is a flower that doesn't preclude abortion being the subject of the song.
I was originally going to speculate that it was about abortion:
Accepting that it is about abortion makes the last line obvious, 'you must reap what you sow or sing', he is singing, because he didn't reap (harvest) what he sowed i.e. his child. But then it makes the first line much more difficult, 'there grows a weed, looks like a flower' that then becomes 'it was not a weed, it was a flower'. Clearly the last line portrays the abortion as a mistake that the man/groom regrets, the first line, in my opinion, shows that he was never happy with the idea of aborting the baby in the first place; 'I'd cut a clearing in the land' is perhaps him trying to persuade the bride that it is wrong in this situation.
but then all this is largely void considering the line 'it was me tearing out the baby's breath'.
In any case, I cannot get any grasp at all on what 'how could I run without becoming lean' means. Really fantastic song too.
I think the subject is either abortion or the break-up of a marriage, neither is particularly satisfying though. Also, although baby's breath is a flower that doesn't preclude abortion being the subject of the song.
I was originally going to speculate that it was about abortion:
Accepting that it is about abortion makes the last line obvious, 'you must reap what you sow or sing', he is singing, because he didn't reap (harvest) what he sowed i.e. his child. But then it makes the first line much more difficult, 'there grows a weed, looks like a flower' that then becomes 'it was not a weed, it was a flower'. Clearly the last line portrays the abortion as a mistake that the man/groom regrets, the first line, in my opinion, shows that he was never happy with the idea of aborting the baby in the first place; 'I'd cut a clearing in the land' is perhaps him trying to persuade the bride that it is wrong in this situation.
but then all this is largely void considering the line 'it was me tearing out the baby's breath'.
In any case, I cannot get any grasp at all on what 'how could I run without becoming lean' means. Really fantastic song too.