I think this song is about a relationship that ended badly but still wanting the stability of the person. Like where the beginning when they say "Don't panic, no not yet, I know i'm the one you want to forget" he's making it clear right off the bat that he knows he's not getting her back and he's okay with it. The first verse is him telling himself that he doesn't need her and its okay that she's gone because its for the better while the second verse is him realizing how much she fucked him up and he just wanting her to know how she was awful to him but was nothing but good to her. Which is displayed in the lines "I will sing to you every day, if it'll take away the pain, oh and i know you've got it got it so bad, because i am the best you'll never have."
Then the chorus which I think is the most beautifully written part because of the pain that caused it. "Baby, you were my picket fence" this metaphor is to show how he did plan for them to last as a couple but also how she was his stablity and his home, and thats why, even after all this time, he still misses her. Because she meant so much to him even though she really hurt him which you can tell from the line "The person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger." It just shows again how much he cared for her only to realize she didn't feel the same. And then, the line "Sometimes before it gets better, The darkness gets bigger" shows that they were in a really awful relationship and when they finally broke up it didn't just get better. Because he loved her and eve though she was the problem, he relied on her. And finally the lines "Were fading fast, I miss missing you now and then" show that he's thinking about this all in hindsight, and that even though he's gotten over her and every things okay, he still thinks about her from time to time and even though as time goes on he thinks about her less and less, the memory of her will always be with him
I think this song is about a relationship that ended badly but still wanting the stability of the person. Like where the beginning when they say "Don't panic, no not yet, I know i'm the one you want to forget" he's making it clear right off the bat that he knows he's not getting her back and he's okay with it. The first verse is him telling himself that he doesn't need her and its okay that she's gone because its for the better while the second verse is him realizing how much she fucked him up and he just wanting her to know how she was awful to him but was nothing but good to her. Which is displayed in the lines "I will sing to you every day, if it'll take away the pain, oh and i know you've got it got it so bad, because i am the best you'll never have."
Then the chorus which I think is the most beautifully written part because of the pain that caused it. "Baby, you were my picket fence" this metaphor is to show how he did plan for them to last as a couple but also how she was his stablity and his home, and thats why, even after all this time, he still misses her. Because she meant so much to him even though she really hurt him which you can tell from the line "The person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger." It just shows again how much he cared for her only to realize she didn't feel the same. And then, the line "Sometimes before it gets better, The darkness gets bigger" shows that they were in a really awful relationship and when they finally broke up it didn't just get better. Because he loved her and eve though she was the problem, he relied on her. And finally the lines "Were fading fast, I miss missing you now and then" show that he's thinking about this all in hindsight, and that even though he's gotten over her and every things okay, he still thinks about her from time to time and even though as time goes on he thinks about her less and less, the memory of her will always be with him