This Street, That Man, This Life Lyrics

Lyric discussion by antmoose 

Cover art for This Street, That Man, This Life lyrics by Cowboy Junkies, The

This song is always attached, in my mind, to the killings by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, in St Catherine's and the hinterland of Toronto -- and specifically to the death of Kristen French, a murder that left an indelible impression on me as a boy growing up in Toronto at the time.

It talks about the secrets behind the doors of the houses, and inside one of those secret houses lurks an evil man who secretly does evil things. From the bridge we can infer that the singer is a parent, and what the evil man has done is to kidnap and kill her daughter. The final verse throbs with loss and regret, "soft and distant, calling/ like a fading memory". One of the saddest songs I know.

My Interpretation