This song is about love that isn't returned ... because of everyone else around. And by everyone else, I mean the adoring fans of the British post-punk band, The Fall. Edge of Forever is about the relationship between Michael E. Smith and Brix Smith Start from Brix's point of view.
First verse she asks him if he's ever loved anyone truly and completely, because he seems to love working the crowd, entertaining, pleasing his admiring fans more than being with her. He's basically ignoring her for the adoration of his fans.
In the refrain she is saything that when they are together without the distraction of anyone else and intimate(her room), she still feels that he internalizes the feelings the fans of The Fall have towards her. And she wishes that he would just ignore them and love her as a wife. When he leaves the crowd a "million hearts break too soon..." because he is leaving them to be with her (his wife).
Second verse works a clever play on the bands name, The Fall, into the lyrics. She feels as though all of the things she has done to help the band have been misinterpreted by the fans - who are saying mean things about her (and what she's done to the Fall). However, he can't (or won't) do or say anything to defend or comfort her publicly - he's wedded to the band. And she doesn't feel that she can seek comfort from anyone else because they wouldn't understand her situation.
This is followed by the refrain again. But included in the refrain is "...think about the things I say..." and "think about it twice as long...". She wants him to stop treating her like a child in the relationship and tell him what's going on with him. What he's thinking, what he's feeling...how all of this is affecting him.
And then something different. A lot of sites (including this one) don't display the stream of consciousness lyrics that follow and they are hard to separate from the music, but they go something like this:
A Southern Sky
Breeze is so Wild
The Bridge is so lonely
The reasons said I
Feeling so hurt
I'm talkin' about, a two hearts
Beating as one now forever
I think these lyrics address the heart of the song - she wants a traditional man and wife partnership, a marriage. Maybe without kids, but definitely more than the "professional" and artistic relationship that she feels they currently have. And though they are married, he's committed to his band (The Fall), it's fans and there's only so much he can give her.
The verse 'The Bridge is so lonely...' may be a direct play on Brix's name. Especially since one of the songwriters in The Dream Academy, Nick Laird-Clowes was good friends with Brix Smith Start.
Cut to the refrain one more time...and the end of the song!
The title is interesting and probably comes from the fact that the woman in the song has almost everything she ever wanted; she's married, she's successful, she's in love. She only needs his commitment (and love) for her "forever". Unfortunately in the case of Brix Smith Start, it didn't last - she and Michael E. Smith divorced in 1989.
This song is about love that isn't returned ... because of everyone else around. And by everyone else, I mean the adoring fans of the British post-punk band, The Fall. Edge of Forever is about the relationship between Michael E. Smith and Brix Smith Start from Brix's point of view.
First verse she asks him if he's ever loved anyone truly and completely, because he seems to love working the crowd, entertaining, pleasing his admiring fans more than being with her. He's basically ignoring her for the adoration of his fans.
In the refrain she is saything that when they are together without the distraction of anyone else and intimate(her room), she still feels that he internalizes the feelings the fans of The Fall have towards her. And she wishes that he would just ignore them and love her as a wife. When he leaves the crowd a "million hearts break too soon..." because he is leaving them to be with her (his wife).
Second verse works a clever play on the bands name, The Fall, into the lyrics. She feels as though all of the things she has done to help the band have been misinterpreted by the fans - who are saying mean things about her (and what she's done to the Fall). However, he can't (or won't) do or say anything to defend or comfort her publicly - he's wedded to the band. And she doesn't feel that she can seek comfort from anyone else because they wouldn't understand her situation.
This is followed by the refrain again. But included in the refrain is "...think about the things I say..." and "think about it twice as long...". She wants him to stop treating her like a child in the relationship and tell him what's going on with him. What he's thinking, what he's feeling...how all of this is affecting him.
And then something different. A lot of sites (including this one) don't display the stream of consciousness lyrics that follow and they are hard to separate from the music, but they go something like this:
A Southern Sky
Breeze is so Wild
The Bridge is so lonely
The reasons said I
Feeling so hurt
I'm talkin' about, a two hearts
Beating as one now forever
I think these lyrics address the heart of the song - she wants a traditional man and wife partnership, a marriage. Maybe without kids, but definitely more than the "professional" and artistic relationship that she feels they currently have. And though they are married, he's committed to his band (The Fall), it's fans and there's only so much he can give her.
The verse 'The Bridge is so lonely...' may be a direct play on Brix's name. Especially since one of the songwriters in The Dream Academy, Nick Laird-Clowes was good friends with Brix Smith Start.
Cut to the refrain one more time...and the end of the song!
The title is interesting and probably comes from the fact that the woman in the song has almost everything she ever wanted; she's married, she's successful, she's in love. She only needs his commitment (and love) for her "forever". Unfortunately in the case of Brix Smith Start, it didn't last - she and Michael E. Smith divorced in 1989.
I used a lot of sources looking up this stuff...
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/01/brix-smith-start-interview-rise-fall-rise-mark-e-smith-nigel-kennedy-philip-start-the-extricated
https://nicksmithphoto.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/nick-smiths-interview-with-brix-smith-of-the-fall-in-guitarist-magazine-december-1996/
And, of course, Brix Smith Start's 2016 book, "The Rise, The Fall and The Rise".
We'll probably never know for sure...but all of the pieces are definitely there!
Hoops McCann