I always interpreted this as about a love interest that somehow never developed into a relationship. Something happens, and now it never will. He wanders the city in his melancholy, noticing various things, reflecting. He thinks to himself:
Am I right? (Did I really have a chance with this man).
Am I wrong? (There's no way he would have been interested in me)
Am I just dreaming? (Who am I kidding? It doesn't matter what he thought about me. My love for him was only in my head; I can never love anyone)
The imagery reflects the bittersweet meloncholia of the situation. Things are dark, but not exactly negative. Life goes on. Maybe it's not really a loss, because it's the loss of a possibility, and an imagined possibility at that.
Of course, this is just my interpretation, biased by my own personal experiences and situation at a time when I heard this song and finally understood how there actually were three distinct possibilities and that "just dreaming" wasn't redundant. It's quite possible I got it all wrong. Either way, though, wonderful song.
I always interpreted this as about a love interest that somehow never developed into a relationship. Something happens, and now it never will. He wanders the city in his melancholy, noticing various things, reflecting. He thinks to himself:
Am I right? (Did I really have a chance with this man). Am I wrong? (There's no way he would have been interested in me) Am I just dreaming? (Who am I kidding? It doesn't matter what he thought about me. My love for him was only in my head; I can never love anyone)
The imagery reflects the bittersweet meloncholia of the situation. Things are dark, but not exactly negative. Life goes on. Maybe it's not really a loss, because it's the loss of a possibility, and an imagined possibility at that.
Of course, this is just my interpretation, biased by my own personal experiences and situation at a time when I heard this song and finally understood how there actually were three distinct possibilities and that "just dreaming" wasn't redundant. It's quite possible I got it all wrong. Either way, though, wonderful song.