In my opinion, this song is about a man whose wife is dying. The title is "Gone, Gone, Gone", for one thing. And he doesn't presume that he might go first – he says "I'll love you long after YOU'RE gone...", which tells us that she is going to "go" first. He also mentions her "suffering", and says he'll share in her suffering to "make you well". She has a terminal illness, that's why she's suffering and why he wants to make her well. He uses the metaphor of a drum for her heart, which he wants to keep on beating (in other words, 'please don't die').
In my opinion, this song is about a man whose wife is dying. The title is "Gone, Gone, Gone", for one thing. And he doesn't presume that he might go first – he says "I'll love you long after YOU'RE gone...", which tells us that she is going to "go" first. He also mentions her "suffering", and says he'll share in her suffering to "make you well". She has a terminal illness, that's why she's suffering and why he wants to make her well. He uses the metaphor of a drum for her heart, which he wants to keep on beating (in other words, 'please don't die').