I love songs like this, that use a relatively straightforward jumping-off point (in this case, I think it's about attempting to cope with the pain of day-to-day banality by having a desperate eye out for someone who will reach out to you (in a romantic sense, most likely)), but sort of slowly reveal a darker reality beneath the obvious sentiments.
"I wanna see a face I know one that I can use" is the pivotal line -- it's like he's realizing that in his desires/fantasies that are directed at whatever person, a Ms. X or whatever, he's not worried about her perspective and everything that informs it (HER desires, needs, etc.). Daily drudgery has kind of turned him into this zombie who can only hunger for this basic need for connection and companionship. This sort of need is typically considered a positive component our human makeup (I.e. associated with "love"), but the line about a face he can "use" and the strangely ominous atmosphere (kind of what I was getting at with the 'zombie' thing) suggests that there's a bleak undercurrent to such needs that usually goes undiscussed. The idea that your hopes are based around using someone to fill a hole that the cold world has cut into you.
I love songs like this, that use a relatively straightforward jumping-off point (in this case, I think it's about attempting to cope with the pain of day-to-day banality by having a desperate eye out for someone who will reach out to you (in a romantic sense, most likely)), but sort of slowly reveal a darker reality beneath the obvious sentiments.
"I wanna see a face I know one that I can use" is the pivotal line -- it's like he's realizing that in his desires/fantasies that are directed at whatever person, a Ms. X or whatever, he's not worried about her perspective and everything that informs it (HER desires, needs, etc.). Daily drudgery has kind of turned him into this zombie who can only hunger for this basic need for connection and companionship. This sort of need is typically considered a positive component our human makeup (I.e. associated with "love"), but the line about a face he can "use" and the strangely ominous atmosphere (kind of what I was getting at with the 'zombie' thing) suggests that there's a bleak undercurrent to such needs that usually goes undiscussed. The idea that your hopes are based around using someone to fill a hole that the cold world has cut into you.