Ether was used for anaesthesia during childbirth, starting in the mid 1800s, up until about 1915 when they started using "twilight sleep" which used different drugs. The lyrics "feeling happiness" suggest childbirth to me, and not a miscarriage or abortion. "something's inside me... disappears into the ether" could be talking about her state of mind under the drugs, where she becomes "conscious of nothing but the need to survive". Childbirth is a bit like that anyway, it's like going through a tunnel even without drugs.
Ether was used for anaesthesia during childbirth, starting in the mid 1800s, up until about 1915 when they started using "twilight sleep" which used different drugs. The lyrics "feeling happiness" suggest childbirth to me, and not a miscarriage or abortion. "something's inside me... disappears into the ether" could be talking about her state of mind under the drugs, where she becomes "conscious of nothing but the need to survive". Childbirth is a bit like that anyway, it's like going through a tunnel even without drugs.