I think it's about interpretations of words. In particular, it's about a strained relationship where both people have to constantly watch what they say around each other.
I've dealt with this with argumentative people, where if I say something that doesn't quite match my meaning, the other person will take that and derail the entire conversation with it. Like for example, if I say "you always make fun of me" and the other person would argue that it's not true because the other person isn't making fun of me 100% of the time. I think that that kind of thing is what this song is about.
"We hang on to every line,
And walk straight down the middle of it."
In other words, they get really hung up on the words that they say to each other ("every line") and they have to be careful to only say exactly what they mean. They have to "walk straight down the middle" of the meanings of their words.
This is backed up by the part of the song where she says
"He thought he was gonna die, but he didn't."
If you're going through a stressful time and you say "I think I'm gonna die!" you probably don't literally mean you're going to die right there at that moment. Similarly,
"She thought she just couldn't cope, but she did"
If you're going through a stressful time and you say "I think I just can't cope" you probably don't mean that you literally, physically can't.
And then the parts where she says things like "can't say no, can't say yes" and "what do we do, now we just can't move" refer to the fact that you reach an impasse if you have to keep watching what you say. It's difficult to reach any kind of resolution of conflict in a relationship if you are both on the defensive all the time.
So yeah. I think that it's about a strained relationship where they keep arguing, and they have to be careful to only say exactly what they mean, because they keep arguing over the meanings of their words.
I think it's about interpretations of words. In particular, it's about a strained relationship where both people have to constantly watch what they say around each other.
I've dealt with this with argumentative people, where if I say something that doesn't quite match my meaning, the other person will take that and derail the entire conversation with it. Like for example, if I say "you always make fun of me" and the other person would argue that it's not true because the other person isn't making fun of me 100% of the time. I think that that kind of thing is what this song is about.
"We hang on to every line, And walk straight down the middle of it."
In other words, they get really hung up on the words that they say to each other ("every line") and they have to be careful to only say exactly what they mean. They have to "walk straight down the middle" of the meanings of their words.
This is backed up by the part of the song where she says
"He thought he was gonna die, but he didn't."
If you're going through a stressful time and you say "I think I'm gonna die!" you probably don't literally mean you're going to die right there at that moment. Similarly,
"She thought she just couldn't cope, but she did"
If you're going through a stressful time and you say "I think I just can't cope" you probably don't mean that you literally, physically can't.
And then the parts where she says things like "can't say no, can't say yes" and "what do we do, now we just can't move" refer to the fact that you reach an impasse if you have to keep watching what you say. It's difficult to reach any kind of resolution of conflict in a relationship if you are both on the defensive all the time.
So yeah. I think that it's about a strained relationship where they keep arguing, and they have to be careful to only say exactly what they mean, because they keep arguing over the meanings of their words.