I see this song as being written from one friend to another, not about a relationship. Although the Magnetic Fields became known for doing tongue-in-cheek love songs through 69 Love Songs, the rest of their catalogue is pretty varied, especially their mid-nineties stuff. What's cool about this song is you can hear both sides of the story. Friend A feels too depressed (the significance of the fifty-pound lead boots, dragging him down to the bottom of the ocean) to deal with Friend B, and he feels betrayed when B decides to stop hanging out with him. But you can hear why B wrote him off: A comes off as pretty self-absorbed and self-pitying. Why would B say he never offered him anything if it weren't true?
Stephin Merritt gives you one guy's perspective, and thanks to his meticulous writing you get both sides of the story. Just another example of how great a songwriter he is.
I see this song as being written from one friend to another, not about a relationship. Although the Magnetic Fields became known for doing tongue-in-cheek love songs through 69 Love Songs, the rest of their catalogue is pretty varied, especially their mid-nineties stuff. What's cool about this song is you can hear both sides of the story. Friend A feels too depressed (the significance of the fifty-pound lead boots, dragging him down to the bottom of the ocean) to deal with Friend B, and he feels betrayed when B decides to stop hanging out with him. But you can hear why B wrote him off: A comes off as pretty self-absorbed and self-pitying. Why would B say he never offered him anything if it weren't true?
Stephin Merritt gives you one guy's perspective, and thanks to his meticulous writing you get both sides of the story. Just another example of how great a songwriter he is.