This song to me is about how the people you grow up with shape who you are, and the struggle of choosing a different path than your childhood friends. Growing up in a "bad neighborhood" the other kids you grow up with see you as part of their group, because you coming from the same neighborhood are unwanted like them. And the ambivalence of loving these people for always being around you, while at the same time knowing their darker sides or their twisted view on things also influence you.
I'm not sure about the "woman" in song, but I interpret it as "the future/career/growing up/new people outside the old neighborhood". I interpret it as Simon was told things about this "woman" when growing up, which didn't really hold truth.
This song to me is about how the people you grow up with shape who you are, and the struggle of choosing a different path than your childhood friends. Growing up in a "bad neighborhood" the other kids you grow up with see you as part of their group, because you coming from the same neighborhood are unwanted like them. And the ambivalence of loving these people for always being around you, while at the same time knowing their darker sides or their twisted view on things also influence you.
I'm not sure about the "woman" in song, but I interpret it as "the future/career/growing up/new people outside the old neighborhood". I interpret it as Simon was told things about this "woman" when growing up, which didn't really hold truth.