I'm so glad I found this page. I always had a hunch that that's what song meant in general.
But I'm a little confused about the specifics of some lines - and would love to get your opinioins.
"From the lips without passion To the lips with a kiss
there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss"
Is this more of him just pretending his new lover ("lips with a kiss") is warmer/better than the girl he's singing to ? ("lips without passion")?
"i was writing to tell you that my feeling's tonight
are a stain on my notebook that rings your goodbye"
I'm embarrassed to say I'm not quite sure what "rings your goodbye" means here?
Is this more "denial"? like I was opening up the same notebook where I found your stain in, originally just opening it up to write a new letter to tell you I'm over you...but found the stain? Or basically he's saying, "all you are is a stain"? nothing more?
I guess the juxtaposition of the 2 lines together is what's confusing..or a bit subtle to get
lastly
"now knowing I am single they'll be fire in my eyes
and a stain on my notebook for a new love tonight"
just as simple as it sounds? he and his new lover will make their own stain? more attempting to forget - ?
@roy1020841 (Eight years later!!) About "rings your goodbye": in Western church bell ringing, up to 12 tuned bells are rung in different sequences for events such as matins, vespers, weddings or funerals. This "change ringing" has become the idiom "ringing the changes", to go through things in different orders to make things less monotonous, or to change one's practices due to a change in life circumstance. For me, he's associating the rings of coffee stains with an important life change, and the fact that he's thinking of her through seeing a stain rather than hearing a peal of bells...
@roy1020841 (Eight years later!!) About "rings your goodbye": in Western church bell ringing, up to 12 tuned bells are rung in different sequences for events such as matins, vespers, weddings or funerals. This "change ringing" has become the idiom "ringing the changes", to go through things in different orders to make things less monotonous, or to change one's practices due to a change in life circumstance. For me, he's associating the rings of coffee stains with an important life change, and the fact that he's thinking of her through seeing a stain rather than hearing a peal of bells may also be important. "Send not to ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."
(About "From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss": I think that's direct, that he's planning to get new kisses 'from a friend with lips full of passion'. The 'stain on the notebook from a new love tonight' is also probably pretty direct, with the last line implying it's from coffee in bed with the passionate friend. (Though Chris Difford was never shy of more explicit associations.)
(About "From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss": I think that's direct, that he's planning to get new kisses 'from a friend with lips full of passion'. The 'stain on the notebook from a new love tonight' is also probably pretty direct, with the last line implying it's from coffee in bed with the passionate friend. (Though Chris Difford was never shy of more explicit associations.)
I'm so glad I found this page. I always had a hunch that that's what song meant in general. But I'm a little confused about the specifics of some lines - and would love to get your opinioins.
"From the lips without passion To the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss"
Is this more of him just pretending his new lover ("lips with a kiss") is warmer/better than the girl he's singing to ? ("lips without passion")?
"i was writing to tell you that my feeling's tonight are a stain on my notebook that rings your goodbye"
I'm embarrassed to say I'm not quite sure what "rings your goodbye" means here? Is this more "denial"? like I was opening up the same notebook where I found your stain in, originally just opening it up to write a new letter to tell you I'm over you...but found the stain? Or basically he's saying, "all you are is a stain"? nothing more? I guess the juxtaposition of the 2 lines together is what's confusing..or a bit subtle to get
lastly "now knowing I am single they'll be fire in my eyes and a stain on my notebook for a new love tonight"
just as simple as it sounds? he and his new lover will make their own stain? more attempting to forget - ?
@roy1020841 (Eight years later!!) About "rings your goodbye": in Western church bell ringing, up to 12 tuned bells are rung in different sequences for events such as matins, vespers, weddings or funerals. This "change ringing" has become the idiom "ringing the changes", to go through things in different orders to make things less monotonous, or to change one's practices due to a change in life circumstance. For me, he's associating the rings of coffee stains with an important life change, and the fact that he's thinking of her through seeing a stain rather than hearing a peal of bells...
@roy1020841 (Eight years later!!) About "rings your goodbye": in Western church bell ringing, up to 12 tuned bells are rung in different sequences for events such as matins, vespers, weddings or funerals. This "change ringing" has become the idiom "ringing the changes", to go through things in different orders to make things less monotonous, or to change one's practices due to a change in life circumstance. For me, he's associating the rings of coffee stains with an important life change, and the fact that he's thinking of her through seeing a stain rather than hearing a peal of bells may also be important. "Send not to ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."
(About "From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss": I think that's direct, that he's planning to get new kisses 'from a friend with lips full of passion'. The 'stain on the notebook from a new love tonight' is also probably pretty direct, with the last line implying it's from coffee in bed with the passionate friend. (Though Chris Difford was never shy of more explicit associations.)
(About "From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss": I think that's direct, that he's planning to get new kisses 'from a friend with lips full of passion'. The 'stain on the notebook from a new love tonight' is also probably pretty direct, with the last line implying it's from coffee in bed with the passionate friend. (Though Chris Difford was never shy of more explicit associations.)