To me, this song is about the difficulties of maintaining a long-distance relationsip/marriage - a situation that was all too real for Daniel Johns and his wife, who were often separated for long periods of time on opposite sides of the world due to work commitments.
The line "I'll hold on to the jewellery, like staple-strapped clenched fist and tongs" obviously symbolises his intent to try to hold onto his marriage, no matter what obstacles they face. And one of those obstacles was probably the temptation to have extramarital affairs (on either of their parts).
As afrikert said, swans are indeed a species of bird that form life-long pair bonds, therefore the song-title "those thieving birds" is probably a metaphor for others who may have tried to come between the marriage (affairs either of them may have had etc.)
In this song, Dan seems to be saying none of these past indiscretions or lies matter to him anymore, as he's willing to give this relationship one last-ditch effort. (Sadly, in real life, this was not to be).
To me, this song is about the difficulties of maintaining a long-distance relationsip/marriage - a situation that was all too real for Daniel Johns and his wife, who were often separated for long periods of time on opposite sides of the world due to work commitments.
The line "I'll hold on to the jewellery, like staple-strapped clenched fist and tongs" obviously symbolises his intent to try to hold onto his marriage, no matter what obstacles they face. And one of those obstacles was probably the temptation to have extramarital affairs (on either of their parts).
As afrikert said, swans are indeed a species of bird that form life-long pair bonds, therefore the song-title "those thieving birds" is probably a metaphor for others who may have tried to come between the marriage (affairs either of them may have had etc.)
In this song, Dan seems to be saying none of these past indiscretions or lies matter to him anymore, as he's willing to give this relationship one last-ditch effort. (Sadly, in real life, this was not to be).