It's about all of the seemingly unimportant things that make up our lives and our relationships. It's about the build up to the collapse of a relationship.
Within the narrative arc, this song would be the point at which the couple break up. There hasn't been a huge conflict, but rather lots of things have built up (his drinking, her fear that he would turn out like her father, their unhappiness with their life in the Midwest) and the woman has left or is leaving. There are a lot of references to things building up and reaching some sort of critical point- snow collects and bends boughs, traffic backs up and the bridge has collapsed, a woman stands at a ledge about to end her life, there are too many deer, coffee boils and burns on the stove.
The narrator thinks back through all of the little experiences in their relationship that built up and caused it to break. He thinks about all of the things that are happening at once, the things that happen all around us, all of the things that build up- it can be overwhelming getting caught up in them (everywhere the wind) and they can cause things to break but they're all important. Sometimes we don't realise how important each moment is until it's too late.
It's about all of the seemingly unimportant things that make up our lives and our relationships. It's about the build up to the collapse of a relationship.
Within the narrative arc, this song would be the point at which the couple break up. There hasn't been a huge conflict, but rather lots of things have built up (his drinking, her fear that he would turn out like her father, their unhappiness with their life in the Midwest) and the woman has left or is leaving. There are a lot of references to things building up and reaching some sort of critical point- snow collects and bends boughs, traffic backs up and the bridge has collapsed, a woman stands at a ledge about to end her life, there are too many deer, coffee boils and burns on the stove.
The narrator thinks back through all of the little experiences in their relationship that built up and caused it to break. He thinks about all of the things that are happening at once, the things that happen all around us, all of the things that build up- it can be overwhelming getting caught up in them (everywhere the wind) and they can cause things to break but they're all important. Sometimes we don't realise how important each moment is until it's too late.