I guess I don't really see why we should pull our heads out of "the gutter" in order to interpret the lyric. This is the fellow who wrote "Only the Good Die Young," and also "Captain Jack." He's comfortable mentioning sex directly sometimes and he's content to do so implicitly others. Both are fine, as far as I'm concerned.
It could be referring to something like a futuristic building in which one experiences instantaneous delights via virtual reality technology be they sexual or gastric or what-have-you. It could also be referring to the line from Coleridge's Kublai Khan in which case it's the same thing, minus the technology and mostly sexual.
Personally, I don't mind deviations from the archetype of "classy" romance in my love songs. It's based loosely off of late Romantic fads, which is rather funny both because that was a long time ago and because it would be silly to assume all the flowery language of Byron was never intended to conflate, by way of example, roses with vaginas.
Other than that line, it's straight out of a cheesy but heart-felt John Denver song right down to the guitar riff and the vocal affectation (I would be surprised if this isn't an intentional reference because it's so uncannily like Denver's singing voice and musical style). Cheesy is nice sometimes, but I would be quite sad if people's main objection to this song is that it doesn't have enough cheesiness and Platonic tint.
One of my favorite love songs is The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields. It's playful, it's sardonic, and it's still beautiful in it's own way. It's not the best example because the only sexual reference is a bit sly, but it's a good song so I have no regrets. :P
But if I wanted to list examples of pop and rock songs that talk about sex, even if I just narrowed it down to songs that are supposed to be interpreted as romantic ... I'd be here all week. And that's a good thing. Because most people who write love songs for other people aren't pining at balcony windows. Sex is part of it for a lot of singers in love, why not for our love songs?
I guess I don't really see why we should pull our heads out of "the gutter" in order to interpret the lyric. This is the fellow who wrote "Only the Good Die Young," and also "Captain Jack." He's comfortable mentioning sex directly sometimes and he's content to do so implicitly others. Both are fine, as far as I'm concerned.
It could be referring to something like a futuristic building in which one experiences instantaneous delights via virtual reality technology be they sexual or gastric or what-have-you. It could also be referring to the line from Coleridge's Kublai Khan in which case it's the same thing, minus the technology and mostly sexual.
Personally, I don't mind deviations from the archetype of "classy" romance in my love songs. It's based loosely off of late Romantic fads, which is rather funny both because that was a long time ago and because it would be silly to assume all the flowery language of Byron was never intended to conflate, by way of example, roses with vaginas.
Other than that line, it's straight out of a cheesy but heart-felt John Denver song right down to the guitar riff and the vocal affectation (I would be surprised if this isn't an intentional reference because it's so uncannily like Denver's singing voice and musical style). Cheesy is nice sometimes, but I would be quite sad if people's main objection to this song is that it doesn't have enough cheesiness and Platonic tint.
One of my favorite love songs is The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields. It's playful, it's sardonic, and it's still beautiful in it's own way. It's not the best example because the only sexual reference is a bit sly, but it's a good song so I have no regrets. :P
But if I wanted to list examples of pop and rock songs that talk about sex, even if I just narrowed it down to songs that are supposed to be interpreted as romantic ... I'd be here all week. And that's a good thing. Because most people who write love songs for other people aren't pining at balcony windows. Sex is part of it for a lot of singers in love, why not for our love songs?