The song is from the prospective of the dead man in the tree. He "bade his love to run, so we'd both be free", but obviously he did not make it.
Interestingly, the song is clear that three men were murdered, but it is not clear by whom they were killed. The implication of the song is either a) they both are murderers, now his ghost longs for her to join him in death, or b) the dead man was not the killer - his "love" was, and his ghost now hungers for vengeance.
This song inherits a tradition of dark, haunting, even sinister folk music and art from a similar vein down through the centuries.
The song is from the prospective of the dead man in the tree. He "bade his love to run, so we'd both be free", but obviously he did not make it.
Interestingly, the song is clear that three men were murdered, but it is not clear by whom they were killed. The implication of the song is either a) they both are murderers, now his ghost longs for her to join him in death, or b) the dead man was not the killer - his "love" was, and his ghost now hungers for vengeance.
This song inherits a tradition of dark, haunting, even sinister folk music and art from a similar vein down through the centuries.