I think this song may well be about a schoolyard crush rather than any old relationship (see the White Stripes' "We're Going To Be Friends"). There are references to nursery rhymes in the third verse ("Mockingbird..." etc) and the baseball metaphor in the fourth verse makes the narrator sound childish, which is compounded by the simple rhyme scheme, melody and structure. Then there's the "howling for you" refrain - to me, this evokes the image of a child crying.
I think this song may well be about a schoolyard crush rather than any old relationship (see the White Stripes' "We're Going To Be Friends"). There are references to nursery rhymes in the third verse ("Mockingbird..." etc) and the baseball metaphor in the fourth verse makes the narrator sound childish, which is compounded by the simple rhyme scheme, melody and structure. Then there's the "howling for you" refrain - to me, this evokes the image of a child crying.