I agree and disagree with parts of other peoples interpretations. My own is that the song is promoting the concept that the love given by a soul-mate can provide ALL of the fulfillment that one needs to exist and live. He's elevating romantic love to such a degree that it can replace and substitute spiritual fulfillment.
He's sharing these observations and his story with his fellow workers, to give them encouragement.
I believe many parts of the song possess a dual meaning: a literal one and then a deeper metaphorical one.
The song begins as such:
“Boys workin' on empty
Is that the kinda way to face the burning heat?”
I think he's addressing his fellow workers, his “boys,” as they do hard, manual labor. In a literal sense, I think he's referencing the terrible conditions in which they are working: physically hungry while laboring in the blazing sun. However, metaphorically, I think he's contemplating the spiritual and emotional emptiness in their lives and asking, is that any way of facing a life that's smoldering from hardships and sins and on a downwards trajectory towards fiery self-destruction and/or hell? He sets the stage to tell them of a better way, or at least keep them occupied as they work and to tell them about the solution he found in his life….
“I just think about my baby
I'm so full of love I could barely eat”
His love for his baby gets him through his day, and her love for him gives him so much fulfillment that, in a literal sense, he's saying that it's more important to him than food. I think in a metaphorical sense, however, he's also saying that, to him, it's more important than spiritual sustenance too. When framed by the context of Catholicism, he doesn't always need to eat of the body of Christ to be spiritually full; her love makes his life full in every way, already.
“There's nothing sweeter than my baby
I'd never want once from the cherry tree”
He's saying that, for him, nothing and no other woman can compare to his baby, that he would never even have desires for another woman after meeting her. I think the word choice purposefully creates a parallel to the story of of Adam and Eve—cherry tree vs. forbidden fruit. In that sense, I think, she's like his Creator, in the parallel. His life began the moment he met her, and unlike Adam and Eve, he's saying he will never make the mistake of betraying that gift.
'Cause my baby's sweet as can be
She give me toothaches just from kissin' me
I see that other people have interpreted the above as being unhealthy in a way: that his love for his baby is like the sweetest sugar, that its so addictive that he'll always choose it over a healthier alternative, and she'll sometimes cause him pain (toothaches).
I don't agree though. I think it's just like it sounds….. He's just emphasizing how kind and loving (sweet) she is. I don't think the “toothaches” that she gives him with her kisses are emotional pain, but rather an aching, longing to be with her all of the time, for every moment of his life.
“When, my, time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her”
The above is his way of saying that even death cannot separate him from her, nor can it end his love for her. He's saying, do whatever with his body—he doesn't care. He will always seek her, and be with her, forever, no matter what.
“Boys, when my baby found me
I was three days on a drunken sin”
He was in a drunken stupor. His life was in a dark place when she found him.
“I woke with her walls around me
Nothin' in her room but an empty crib”
Literally, through the haze of his drunkenness, he remembers she took him into her home. Metaphorically, though, I think the walls he speaks of were her loving care, like an embrace or cocoon that he remembers around him, keeping him safe and comfortable during that dark time in his life. I think the line, “Nothin' in her room but an empty crib”is a juxtaposition between his emotional baggage and skeletons in his closet, and her clean and pure life history. Unlike him, the only thing in her “closet”/”room” is a metaphorical empty crib, meaning, she's a young woman, having just left youth behind, unburdened, pure, not having accumulated regrets or sins.
And I was burnin' up a fever
I didn't care much how long I lived
This reinforces how troubled his life was at the time. Beyond his literal fever induced by his drunken/unwell state, I believe, he was referring to a metaphorical “fever,” which was his self-destructive, debaucherous, and possibly reckless state of mind. It was so bad, he had given up on life and didn't care how long he lived.
“But I swear I thought I dreamed her
She never asked me once about the wrong I did”
In his state of drunken stupor and hopelessness, his memories were hazy, his grip on reality loose, and he didn't trust that something so fortunate had happened. She seemed too good to be true. He then said that his dark past wasn't something that she asked to know. She looked past the fact that he was a sinner and his life was at a low point. It didn't matter to her what skeletons he had, and you can tell that he's grateful.
“My baby never fret none
About what my hands and my body done.”
He's reinforcing his previous statement.
If the Lord don't forgive me
I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me
Once again, he's saying that even if he doesn't have spiritual sustenance or God's forgiveness, he still has his baby's love, and that's all that he needs. Her love is so intrinsically important to him that it can be a substitute for God's love.
“When I was kissing on my baby
And she put her love down soft and sweet
In the low lamp light I was free
Heaven and hell were words to me”
I believe this refers to sex, and during that intimacy, in the low lamp light, he was set free from all worries. It didn't matter where his soul is headed; all that mattered was her.
I agree and disagree with parts of other peoples interpretations. My own is that the song is promoting the concept that the love given by a soul-mate can provide ALL of the fulfillment that one needs to exist and live. He's elevating romantic love to such a degree that it can replace and substitute spiritual fulfillment.
He's sharing these observations and his story with his fellow workers, to give them encouragement.
I believe many parts of the song possess a dual meaning: a literal one and then a deeper metaphorical one.
The song begins as such:
“Boys workin' on empty Is that the kinda way to face the burning heat?”
I think he's addressing his fellow workers, his “boys,” as they do hard, manual labor. In a literal sense, I think he's referencing the terrible conditions in which they are working: physically hungry while laboring in the blazing sun. However, metaphorically, I think he's contemplating the spiritual and emotional emptiness in their lives and asking, is that any way of facing a life that's smoldering from hardships and sins and on a downwards trajectory towards fiery self-destruction and/or hell? He sets the stage to tell them of a better way, or at least keep them occupied as they work and to tell them about the solution he found in his life….
“I just think about my baby I'm so full of love I could barely eat”
His love for his baby gets him through his day, and her love for him gives him so much fulfillment that, in a literal sense, he's saying that it's more important to him than food. I think in a metaphorical sense, however, he's also saying that, to him, it's more important than spiritual sustenance too. When framed by the context of Catholicism, he doesn't always need to eat of the body of Christ to be spiritually full; her love makes his life full in every way, already.
“There's nothing sweeter than my baby I'd never want once from the cherry tree”
He's saying that, for him, nothing and no other woman can compare to his baby, that he would never even have desires for another woman after meeting her. I think the word choice purposefully creates a parallel to the story of of Adam and Eve—cherry tree vs. forbidden fruit. In that sense, I think, she's like his Creator, in the parallel. His life began the moment he met her, and unlike Adam and Eve, he's saying he will never make the mistake of betraying that gift.
'Cause my baby's sweet as can be She give me toothaches just from kissin' me
I see that other people have interpreted the above as being unhealthy in a way: that his love for his baby is like the sweetest sugar, that its so addictive that he'll always choose it over a healthier alternative, and she'll sometimes cause him pain (toothaches). I don't agree though. I think it's just like it sounds….. He's just emphasizing how kind and loving (sweet) she is. I don't think the “toothaches” that she gives him with her kisses are emotional pain, but rather an aching, longing to be with her all of the time, for every moment of his life.
“When, my, time comes around Lay me gently in the cold dark earth No grave can hold my body down I'll crawl home to her”
The above is his way of saying that even death cannot separate him from her, nor can it end his love for her. He's saying, do whatever with his body—he doesn't care. He will always seek her, and be with her, forever, no matter what.
“Boys, when my baby found me I was three days on a drunken sin”
He was in a drunken stupor. His life was in a dark place when she found him.
“I woke with her walls around me Nothin' in her room but an empty crib”
Literally, through the haze of his drunkenness, he remembers she took him into her home. Metaphorically, though, I think the walls he speaks of were her loving care, like an embrace or cocoon that he remembers around him, keeping him safe and comfortable during that dark time in his life. I think the line, “Nothin' in her room but an empty crib”is a juxtaposition between his emotional baggage and skeletons in his closet, and her clean and pure life history. Unlike him, the only thing in her “closet”/”room” is a metaphorical empty crib, meaning, she's a young woman, having just left youth behind, unburdened, pure, not having accumulated regrets or sins.
And I was burnin' up a fever I didn't care much how long I lived
This reinforces how troubled his life was at the time. Beyond his literal fever induced by his drunken/unwell state, I believe, he was referring to a metaphorical “fever,” which was his self-destructive, debaucherous, and possibly reckless state of mind. It was so bad, he had given up on life and didn't care how long he lived.
“But I swear I thought I dreamed her She never asked me once about the wrong I did”
In his state of drunken stupor and hopelessness, his memories were hazy, his grip on reality loose, and he didn't trust that something so fortunate had happened. She seemed too good to be true. He then said that his dark past wasn't something that she asked to know. She looked past the fact that he was a sinner and his life was at a low point. It didn't matter to her what skeletons he had, and you can tell that he's grateful.
“My baby never fret none About what my hands and my body done.”
He's reinforcing his previous statement.
If the Lord don't forgive me I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me
Once again, he's saying that even if he doesn't have spiritual sustenance or God's forgiveness, he still has his baby's love, and that's all that he needs. Her love is so intrinsically important to him that it can be a substitute for God's love.
“When I was kissing on my baby And she put her love down soft and sweet In the low lamp light I was free Heaven and hell were words to me”
I believe this refers to sex, and during that intimacy, in the low lamp light, he was set free from all worries. It didn't matter where his soul is headed; all that mattered was her.