This is such a beautiful song and I'm surprised that I am the first person to offer an interpretation. With that being said ... I think there are many different possible interpretations for this song, but this was the first (not the only) that came to mind:
This song is about feeling inadequate. The narrator wants to give this person the things (some material, though most are emotional) he feels said individual deserves, but he - at least in his mind - falls short and this is shown by the repetitive "If I was ..." scenarios he presents. He is too "old" to feel wholesome ("If I was a cute little kid, I would show you the painting I did for you ...") and too "young" to have the wisdom gained from vast life experiences ("If I was a hundred and three,/ I would share all my boring stories with you /But you caught me too soon ...").
Fell in love with Back to the Future reference ("If I was Marty McFly,/ I would go back to when we were nine, or ten/ And I'd be your best friend ..."). Not really sure of its significance, but perhaps it is simply the narrator's desire to share something simple and genuine with the song's subject.
I think it's notable (and very sad) that the narrator places more "living" qualities on the ghost than he does himself. ("But I'm flesh and I'm bone/ And I'm stiff as a stone.") The narrator seems to be existing in state of numbness and, though he does care for the person to whom he wishes he could give all these things, his "timing's no good" and it's "too little too late." He is caught in an awkward phase and does not know how to properly express his feelings at this point in his life.
This is such a beautiful song and I'm surprised that I am the first person to offer an interpretation. With that being said ... I think there are many different possible interpretations for this song, but this was the first (not the only) that came to mind:
This song is about feeling inadequate. The narrator wants to give this person the things (some material, though most are emotional) he feels said individual deserves, but he - at least in his mind - falls short and this is shown by the repetitive "If I was ..." scenarios he presents. He is too "old" to feel wholesome ("If I was a cute little kid, I would show you the painting I did for you ...") and too "young" to have the wisdom gained from vast life experiences ("If I was a hundred and three,/ I would share all my boring stories with you /But you caught me too soon ...").
Fell in love with Back to the Future reference ("If I was Marty McFly,/ I would go back to when we were nine, or ten/ And I'd be your best friend ..."). Not really sure of its significance, but perhaps it is simply the narrator's desire to share something simple and genuine with the song's subject.
I think it's notable (and very sad) that the narrator places more "living" qualities on the ghost than he does himself. ("But I'm flesh and I'm bone/ And I'm stiff as a stone.") The narrator seems to be existing in state of numbness and, though he does care for the person to whom he wishes he could give all these things, his "timing's no good" and it's "too little too late." He is caught in an awkward phase and does not know how to properly express his feelings at this point in his life.