I think it is about an elderly lady who has lost her husband of many years. She's trying to deal with it all, comforting herself with a 'few old friends' and 'tea and sympathy' but she finds it too hard to live life without her 'true love' who has been there with her for her entire life, and though the death was recent, it feels like such a 'long long time' since she's been with him.
I think that after her friends leave she realises that she's wasting her life 'waiting for the dawn' because her love won't be with her, so she kills herself, in order to be 'forever by his side.'
It's a bit morbid, but that's what I think. The song is beautiful either way.
I think it is about an elderly lady who has lost her husband of many years. She's trying to deal with it all, comforting herself with a 'few old friends' and 'tea and sympathy' but she finds it too hard to live life without her 'true love' who has been there with her for her entire life, and though the death was recent, it feels like such a 'long long time' since she's been with him. I think that after her friends leave she realises that she's wasting her life 'waiting for the dawn' because her love won't be with her, so she kills herself, in order to be 'forever by his side.' It's a bit morbid, but that's what I think. The song is beautiful either way.
@essenceofcrabbe - I thought your meaning for Janis Ian's Tea and Sympathy 4 long years ago was absolutely spot on!!! Great job, Tom
@essenceofcrabbe - I thought your meaning for Janis Ian's Tea and Sympathy 4 long years ago was absolutely spot on!!! Great job, Tom