This song is about the older brother and how he met his wife. After his father's murder, the older brother turned to alcohol as a means of coping. As time went on and the older brother kept waiting for the younger brother to return, his alcoholism became worse. He felt the affect it was holding on his marriage, hence the line, "Your gut sinks each time you see her." He felt embarrassed and ashamed that he had fallen into such a state, but despite everything, he still drank. This is evident throughout the album, especially in the song 'White Oak Doors', where he is drinking in his father's chair and sets the glass down to answer the door.
As a side note, the line "Put the sun into the sea" refers to the fact that the family lives in a port town (in other songs, one is able to determine that the older brother is a shipyard worker). The sun is "put into the sea" as he spends the evening drinking, so he is essentially wasting the hours when the sun is still up.
This song is about the older brother and how he met his wife. After his father's murder, the older brother turned to alcohol as a means of coping. As time went on and the older brother kept waiting for the younger brother to return, his alcoholism became worse. He felt the affect it was holding on his marriage, hence the line, "Your gut sinks each time you see her." He felt embarrassed and ashamed that he had fallen into such a state, but despite everything, he still drank. This is evident throughout the album, especially in the song 'White Oak Doors', where he is drinking in his father's chair and sets the glass down to answer the door.
As a side note, the line "Put the sun into the sea" refers to the fact that the family lives in a port town (in other songs, one is able to determine that the older brother is a shipyard worker). The sun is "put into the sea" as he spends the evening drinking, so he is essentially wasting the hours when the sun is still up.