I'm a fan of Stephin Merritt's songwriting. I particularly admire his work on "69 Love Songs", where he repeatedly, playfully, and always cleverly turns the genre on its head (providing a nice triple (quadruple?) entendre for the album's title). As with other posters this song is a favorite, but I have a different take on it. I think the singer is singing to her partner who, although honest, has become too clinical and analytical in thinking and lost his/her passion for the relationship. For the singer, honesty has its place (and she realizes she'll never consistently be as honest as her partner is or may want her to be), but she can't/won't live without passion in her life. Consequently, she has engaged in behaviors injurious to the relationship that should have provoked an emotional response from her partner, but did not. The subtext is the challenge of reconciling the differences between love and passion and honesty and fidelity in a working relationship. The kicker is that it's now the singer who's exposing the marrow and, as a result, neither of them may ever be loved for their honesty. Honestly.
I'm a fan of Stephin Merritt's songwriting. I particularly admire his work on "69 Love Songs", where he repeatedly, playfully, and always cleverly turns the genre on its head (providing a nice triple (quadruple?) entendre for the album's title). As with other posters this song is a favorite, but I have a different take on it. I think the singer is singing to her partner who, although honest, has become too clinical and analytical in thinking and lost his/her passion for the relationship. For the singer, honesty has its place (and she realizes she'll never consistently be as honest as her partner is or may want her to be), but she can't/won't live without passion in her life. Consequently, she has engaged in behaviors injurious to the relationship that should have provoked an emotional response from her partner, but did not. The subtext is the challenge of reconciling the differences between love and passion and honesty and fidelity in a working relationship. The kicker is that it's now the singer who's exposing the marrow and, as a result, neither of them may ever be loved for their honesty. Honestly.