This is all just my opinion, I don't know the official artists' interpretation.
The first paragraph, using analogies of war and speaking of "disarming" the singer while arming her partner, makes it clear the artist considers this to be a battle for her partner and not for her. But the next paragraph starts in about what she brings to the battle, which appears to be tidiness and resolve. The Last Supper in the Bible was an emotional affair but in the end, the decision could not be moved and Jesus' disciples stopped arguing and just supported Jesus.
"The team you're hitched to has a mind of its own" is a metaphor for her partner having no control over their life and direction, and then the artist points out what actually controls her partner: "It's just the forces of your past you've fought before."
"Come back here and shut the door"/"Don't you recognize them anymore?" Are cries for help from the artist for her partner to get out of that wagon and regain control, but the rest of the song paints an image of that desire ultimately being useless. "I'm stacking sandbags against the river of your troubles" is another thing the artist lends to her partner for the fight, but shows later in the song that the action is not helping.
In the second verse, she moves on to wonder whether this is all worth it. "A bag of silver for a box of nails" is another allusion to the Bible, when Judas trades in Jesus for silver and Jesus is subsequently nailed to the cross. It also ties into the general self-sacrificial nature of the song. "There is fire, there is lust"/"Some would trade it all for someone they could trust" is talking about cashing in passion for someone who is stable, who they can rely on. I could take that two ways. Either that's what the artist has done, traded in what she wants for someone she can predict. Or it's what her partner has done, trading in an equal passion for her for someone who will fight for him.
In the end ("I realize that some things never are made right") the artist is resigned to her fate. She talks about stringing time together to illustrate time just mindlessly passing, and she's worried--or knows!--that it will amount to nothing. She gives her plea one more try, but it is calm as it fades into instrumentals and the song itself fades away, and we the listener knows that she was right.
This is all just my opinion, I don't know the official artists' interpretation.
The first paragraph, using analogies of war and speaking of "disarming" the singer while arming her partner, makes it clear the artist considers this to be a battle for her partner and not for her. But the next paragraph starts in about what she brings to the battle, which appears to be tidiness and resolve. The Last Supper in the Bible was an emotional affair but in the end, the decision could not be moved and Jesus' disciples stopped arguing and just supported Jesus.
"The team you're hitched to has a mind of its own" is a metaphor for her partner having no control over their life and direction, and then the artist points out what actually controls her partner: "It's just the forces of your past you've fought before."
"Come back here and shut the door"/"Don't you recognize them anymore?" Are cries for help from the artist for her partner to get out of that wagon and regain control, but the rest of the song paints an image of that desire ultimately being useless. "I'm stacking sandbags against the river of your troubles" is another thing the artist lends to her partner for the fight, but shows later in the song that the action is not helping.
In the second verse, she moves on to wonder whether this is all worth it. "A bag of silver for a box of nails" is another allusion to the Bible, when Judas trades in Jesus for silver and Jesus is subsequently nailed to the cross. It also ties into the general self-sacrificial nature of the song. "There is fire, there is lust"/"Some would trade it all for someone they could trust" is talking about cashing in passion for someone who is stable, who they can rely on. I could take that two ways. Either that's what the artist has done, traded in what she wants for someone she can predict. Or it's what her partner has done, trading in an equal passion for her for someone who will fight for him.
In the end ("I realize that some things never are made right") the artist is resigned to her fate. She talks about stringing time together to illustrate time just mindlessly passing, and she's worried--or knows!--that it will amount to nothing. She gives her plea one more try, but it is calm as it fades into instrumentals and the song itself fades away, and we the listener knows that she was right.