A beautiful song about two people in love. The lyrics are mainly very straightforward… except:
The lines near the end have a meaning that Phoebe Snow's mother caught right away, but many listeners probably don't: The man in this relationship is married to someone else. I myself originally interpreted the lyrics with this meaning: "Home's that place that men in general goes to at the end of each day to see their wives… and I hope that one day soon we are man and wife." In actuality, Phoebe was having an affair with a married man and meant: "Home's that place that you, the man I'm talking about, goes to see the wife who doesn't know about me. And I'd rather you stay and spend more time with me instead."
It's easy enough to hear it either way, but the second one was the message, and Phoebe's mother took it, correctly, as a confession.
A beautiful song about two people in love. The lyrics are mainly very straightforward… except:
The lines near the end have a meaning that Phoebe Snow's mother caught right away, but many listeners probably don't: The man in this relationship is married to someone else. I myself originally interpreted the lyrics with this meaning: "Home's that place that men in general goes to at the end of each day to see their wives… and I hope that one day soon we are man and wife." In actuality, Phoebe was having an affair with a married man and meant: "Home's that place that you, the man I'm talking about, goes to see the wife who doesn't know about me. And I'd rather you stay and spend more time with me instead."
It's easy enough to hear it either way, but the second one was the message, and Phoebe's mother took it, correctly, as a confession.