"You were standing in the street 'cause you were tryin' not to crack up" can be read two ways - you were trying not to break down and fall apart, or you were trying not to laugh - and they're both so valid. In this situation - meeting an old lover by chance when you never got the closure you needed with them, as I read it - you'd be in pain and laughing.
And "so surprised you'd want to dance with me now..." Do you think she asked him to dance? I can never decide if that's what he's expecting, or if she asked for a last dance in the rain.
But yes, simple meaning - he walked out of the party to clear his head in the rain, and there she was, doing the same thing. He was just getting over a rough patch in his life/ a depression/"coming back from what seemed like a ruin," when it happened, and he's surprised that she'd be there and want some closure. He looks back at how they ended and says the mistakes they made were a lot more painful than they ever expected, but he's moving on now/only things about it when the sun kicks out....
love the way you read the song... the way i interpreted the "so surprised you'd want to dance with me now, you always said I held you way too high off the ground" was really a metaphor, not literal dancing. the dance is/was a metaphor for their relationship. she never wanted to dance with him because he held her way too high off the ground or, as i see it, she never wanted to really be in a serious relationship with him because he idolized her and worshiped her and she couldn't give him that commitment back. i'm not sure...
love the way you read the song... the way i interpreted the "so surprised you'd want to dance with me now, you always said I held you way too high off the ground" was really a metaphor, not literal dancing. the dance is/was a metaphor for their relationship. she never wanted to dance with him because he held her way too high off the ground or, as i see it, she never wanted to really be in a serious relationship with him because he idolized her and worshiped her and she couldn't give him that commitment back. i'm not sure if that's how i feel about the entire song, but that particular part really gives me that image.
I love the ambiguities in this.
"You were standing in the street 'cause you were tryin' not to crack up" can be read two ways - you were trying not to break down and fall apart, or you were trying not to laugh - and they're both so valid. In this situation - meeting an old lover by chance when you never got the closure you needed with them, as I read it - you'd be in pain and laughing.
And "so surprised you'd want to dance with me now..." Do you think she asked him to dance? I can never decide if that's what he's expecting, or if she asked for a last dance in the rain.
But yes, simple meaning - he walked out of the party to clear his head in the rain, and there she was, doing the same thing. He was just getting over a rough patch in his life/ a depression/"coming back from what seemed like a ruin," when it happened, and he's surprised that she'd be there and want some closure. He looks back at how they ended and says the mistakes they made were a lot more painful than they ever expected, but he's moving on now/only things about it when the sun kicks out....
love the way you read the song... the way i interpreted the "so surprised you'd want to dance with me now, you always said I held you way too high off the ground" was really a metaphor, not literal dancing. the dance is/was a metaphor for their relationship. she never wanted to dance with him because he held her way too high off the ground or, as i see it, she never wanted to really be in a serious relationship with him because he idolized her and worshiped her and she couldn't give him that commitment back. i'm not sure...
love the way you read the song... the way i interpreted the "so surprised you'd want to dance with me now, you always said I held you way too high off the ground" was really a metaphor, not literal dancing. the dance is/was a metaphor for their relationship. she never wanted to dance with him because he held her way too high off the ground or, as i see it, she never wanted to really be in a serious relationship with him because he idolized her and worshiped her and she couldn't give him that commitment back. i'm not sure if that's how i feel about the entire song, but that particular part really gives me that image.