I agree with AdrianDangerous, except the words are not those of Jack the Ripper himself. The last victim, Mary Jane Kelly, was murdered on 9th November [1888] and the song mentions the last time being the 4th.
Bearing all that in mind, this is my interpretation [in a historical fiction sense]:
a man had a relationship with Kelly, possibly in spite of her being a prostitute, and he is remembering the last time he saw her before her murder; "the blood red streaks on velvet throats" may be a reference to the fact a lot of Ripper victims had their throats slit. The man is also mourning Kelly - her death was by far the worst of the Ripper murders, as she was practically unidentifiable after the discovery of her body. I believe "I wish I could just remember your name", is a reflection of the 'putting a name to a face' thing; metaphorically speaking of course, after her death she had no face to put a name to.
But a part of this man wishes it had been him instead - "you know I don't want to live forever" and of course, "the worst [thing] is being alone" and now he is.
As for "the streetlights fanned our trail of fame through London", I can only assume that the streetlights that lead the way through the night did not help the police identify Jack the Ripper, who gained fame through these events.
I agree with AdrianDangerous, except the words are not those of Jack the Ripper himself. The last victim, Mary Jane Kelly, was murdered on 9th November [1888] and the song mentions the last time being the 4th. Bearing all that in mind, this is my interpretation [in a historical fiction sense]: a man had a relationship with Kelly, possibly in spite of her being a prostitute, and he is remembering the last time he saw her before her murder; "the blood red streaks on velvet throats" may be a reference to the fact a lot of Ripper victims had their throats slit. The man is also mourning Kelly - her death was by far the worst of the Ripper murders, as she was practically unidentifiable after the discovery of her body. I believe "I wish I could just remember your name", is a reflection of the 'putting a name to a face' thing; metaphorically speaking of course, after her death she had no face to put a name to. But a part of this man wishes it had been him instead - "you know I don't want to live forever" and of course, "the worst [thing] is being alone" and now he is. As for "the streetlights fanned our trail of fame through London", I can only assume that the streetlights that lead the way through the night did not help the police identify Jack the Ripper, who gained fame through these events.
@alimayne Jack the Ripper (& everyone else) was a mere mortal. So I highly doubt that any of them were worried about living forever.
@alimayne Jack the Ripper (& everyone else) was a mere mortal. So I highly doubt that any of them were worried about living forever.