I think it's about someone who's trying to make the most of the time he has left with his terminally ill lover. The song goes backward in time. The first part, which is disconnected and disorienting, takes place after her death. The second part, which is much more cohesive, mostly takes place while she's still alive, though the last few lines go back to the present.
"Who is much more than a friend,
but never by my side?"
She's gone, but he can feel her presence still.
"All beginnings are an end,
in the blackness there’s a light"
Maybe she's in a better place now.
"Maybe you will only read
one or two letters at the most
Shipping crates might line the streets,
every stranger is a ghost"
He's grieving for her and it's distorting his perception of the world. He doesn't read anymore, he doesn't talk to anybody, they might as well be ghosts to him.
"Cashiers won’t deduct the pain,
loneliness sleeps on the couch
Only noticing the stain
once the color’s faded out"
I'm envisioning him, grieving and lonely, going to get something from the store, coming back, and noticing a stain on the couch where she spilled something a long time ago and just breaking down in tears.
Now the second part, where the guitar starts to fade in. This takes place while she's still alive, as I said earlier:
"Let’s go camping in the cold,
make a fire, buy a tent
Envision leather getting old,
re-send pigeons that were sent"
They want to make the most of the time they have together and have fun. He keeps imagining what it would be like to grow old with her, but it can't ever happen.
"Try to memorize your smell,
it reminds me of a field"
Self-explanatory. Sometimes a smell is the most vivid way to remember a person or place.
"Crickets clearer than a bell
have all their guts recast in steel
Birds don’t cry when echoes quit,
they trail off into the fog"
These lines reference nature being silenced or altered in some way, which makes me think they're referring to her being hooked up to tubes in the hospital. Her guts have been "recast in steel."
"Autumn hurts far less than sticks,
knowing winter’s five feet tall"
The little things really can't bother him anymore after this.
"Generations of defeat
all assuming you're the worst
They never tied the cans
to the back end of a hearse"
Older people like to look down on younger generations. Here he's calling out a possible parental figure for judging him when that person didn't have to go through the grieving process he's enduring.
"I’ve come to terms with what I have,
what’s been given, what’s been asked
Turn my back against the sea,
and beg the serpent for a dance"
He's accepted that soon she'll be gone for good, but on some level he's still praying desperately for a miracle recovery.
"But in the red dirt muddy towns,
celebration of the dark
Children walking hand in hand
with the pygmies in zee park"
Life is still going on outside. No one cares about their private tragedy
"So keep my feet within the house,
and stick my toes just past the door"
After she's gone, he becomes a hermit and stays at home.
"Let me know when I’m in love,
let me die when I’m in love"
He doesn't think he'll be able to love anyone more than her, and he envies her being able to die while in love.
I think it's about someone who's trying to make the most of the time he has left with his terminally ill lover. The song goes backward in time. The first part, which is disconnected and disorienting, takes place after her death. The second part, which is much more cohesive, mostly takes place while she's still alive, though the last few lines go back to the present.
"Who is much more than a friend, but never by my side?"
She's gone, but he can feel her presence still.
"All beginnings are an end, in the blackness there’s a light"
Maybe she's in a better place now.
"Maybe you will only read one or two letters at the most Shipping crates might line the streets, every stranger is a ghost"
He's grieving for her and it's distorting his perception of the world. He doesn't read anymore, he doesn't talk to anybody, they might as well be ghosts to him.
"Cashiers won’t deduct the pain, loneliness sleeps on the couch Only noticing the stain once the color’s faded out"
I'm envisioning him, grieving and lonely, going to get something from the store, coming back, and noticing a stain on the couch where she spilled something a long time ago and just breaking down in tears.
Now the second part, where the guitar starts to fade in. This takes place while she's still alive, as I said earlier:
"Let’s go camping in the cold, make a fire, buy a tent Envision leather getting old, re-send pigeons that were sent"
They want to make the most of the time they have together and have fun. He keeps imagining what it would be like to grow old with her, but it can't ever happen.
"Try to memorize your smell, it reminds me of a field"
Self-explanatory. Sometimes a smell is the most vivid way to remember a person or place.
"Crickets clearer than a bell have all their guts recast in steel Birds don’t cry when echoes quit, they trail off into the fog"
These lines reference nature being silenced or altered in some way, which makes me think they're referring to her being hooked up to tubes in the hospital. Her guts have been "recast in steel."
"Autumn hurts far less than sticks, knowing winter’s five feet tall"
The little things really can't bother him anymore after this.
"Generations of defeat all assuming you're the worst They never tied the cans to the back end of a hearse"
Older people like to look down on younger generations. Here he's calling out a possible parental figure for judging him when that person didn't have to go through the grieving process he's enduring.
"I’ve come to terms with what I have, what’s been given, what’s been asked Turn my back against the sea, and beg the serpent for a dance"
He's accepted that soon she'll be gone for good, but on some level he's still praying desperately for a miracle recovery.
"But in the red dirt muddy towns, celebration of the dark Children walking hand in hand with the pygmies in zee park"
Life is still going on outside. No one cares about their private tragedy
"So keep my feet within the house, and stick my toes just past the door"
After she's gone, he becomes a hermit and stays at home.
"Let me know when I’m in love, let me die when I’m in love"
He doesn't think he'll be able to love anyone more than her, and he envies her being able to die while in love.