I think that you have all rather missed the point. The song is written in the present tense:
there's a line on her jeans (not there was a line on her jeans)
there's a heart on her sleeve (not that there was one)
there's a piece of green in her blue eyes (that wouldn't have changed, of course)
there a stray dog she fees (not fed)
he loves her to hold him (not loved)
he howls at the door (not howled)
etc
While the first verse might not scan so well in the past tense, the second would so we can assume that the present tense has been deliberately used. Obviously the lyric associates the various slips, errors and the stray dog with the author, but because all of these things are in the present, not the past, the relationship itself is also being stated to be in the present.
There is clearly a wistfulness (added to beautifully by the tune) and sense of regret, but that isn't for the end of the relationship but an awareness of the author's shortcomings in not being able to give her the more conventional home-life she clearly wanted. What the song is about is an ongoing relationship in which the author is someone who has to have their own personal space, but still (like the stray dog coming back to be held - and fed, cheeky blighter!) needs to come back to this woman who provides the stability and comfort to which he can retreat. When he's not there, she makes do and she worries about him, but by keeping the relationship clearly in the present it is shown that he does come back every time.
The start of the final section ("So if you ever decide that you have to escape, etc) is a direct address to the listener. The author isn't writing about his own relationship any more, but suggesting that if the listener is also someone who decides that they have to escape and travel the world they may reach the same conclusions as he has, i.e that Paradise is a state of mind (in this case Paradise is implied to be his home life with the woman), not a place you can travel to.
The final verse, in which he notes that he will name the "golden dream" after "you" (no doubt the woman) is ambiguous. It could just be a slip in the writing - a lovely line and an emotional appeal that perhaps has been retained from earlier drafts in which the relationship was expressed to be in the past. Alternatively, perhaps it tells us that the "golden dream" of the relationship has passed, in the way that I am sure that we all know that the initial glory of romantic relationships mature. Whatever, it's sung with glorious emotional impact and depth and brings the song to a suitable climax.
It's a beautiful song, and a crying shame that it was left out of the original vinyl version of the LP, held back as a special for the CD. Unlike many of the other songs on Seasons End (fantastic tunes, but a bit hackneyed and bleedin' obvious in their lyrical themes), this one (along with The Space) does have a poetry that stands compare with the previous recordings with Fish.
I think that you have all rather missed the point. The song is written in the present tense:
While the first verse might not scan so well in the past tense, the second would so we can assume that the present tense has been deliberately used. Obviously the lyric associates the various slips, errors and the stray dog with the author, but because all of these things are in the present, not the past, the relationship itself is also being stated to be in the present.
There is clearly a wistfulness (added to beautifully by the tune) and sense of regret, but that isn't for the end of the relationship but an awareness of the author's shortcomings in not being able to give her the more conventional home-life she clearly wanted. What the song is about is an ongoing relationship in which the author is someone who has to have their own personal space, but still (like the stray dog coming back to be held - and fed, cheeky blighter!) needs to come back to this woman who provides the stability and comfort to which he can retreat. When he's not there, she makes do and she worries about him, but by keeping the relationship clearly in the present it is shown that he does come back every time.
The start of the final section ("So if you ever decide that you have to escape, etc) is a direct address to the listener. The author isn't writing about his own relationship any more, but suggesting that if the listener is also someone who decides that they have to escape and travel the world they may reach the same conclusions as he has, i.e that Paradise is a state of mind (in this case Paradise is implied to be his home life with the woman), not a place you can travel to.
The final verse, in which he notes that he will name the "golden dream" after "you" (no doubt the woman) is ambiguous. It could just be a slip in the writing - a lovely line and an emotional appeal that perhaps has been retained from earlier drafts in which the relationship was expressed to be in the past. Alternatively, perhaps it tells us that the "golden dream" of the relationship has passed, in the way that I am sure that we all know that the initial glory of romantic relationships mature. Whatever, it's sung with glorious emotional impact and depth and brings the song to a suitable climax.
It's a beautiful song, and a crying shame that it was left out of the original vinyl version of the LP, held back as a special for the CD. Unlike many of the other songs on Seasons End (fantastic tunes, but a bit hackneyed and bleedin' obvious in their lyrical themes), this one (along with The Space) does have a poetry that stands compare with the previous recordings with Fish.