There are two main characters in this song, the narrator "me" and the listener "you". The first verse establishes a relationship between the two. The lyrics play on the word "know", which has a double meaning of interpersonal knowledge and "carnal knowledge", i.e. sex. The verse suggests that the listener can spend the night with the narrator, but she is unwilling or unable to form a more permanent connection.
The next two verses are somewhat ambiguous but seem to be contrasting the narrator with other women. Other women may bring riches, loving words, family -- the narrator will only bring pain. This almost seems like the narrator is warning the listener about herself. She will come into his life and then leave him with only the wind on the hill to remember her. He may find other women who look like her, but they won't be the same.
The last two verses seem to concern the narrator's fate. Again, she places herself in context with other women: Some will die for money, some will die as rich or poor as they were born. Some will claim to be willing to die for love, although the implication seems to be that this may not be true when put to the test. Some women "die every morn", perhaps referring to the metaphorical death of lovers who must separate in the morning. The narrator feels that she'll die alone, among strangers, and buried in a nameless grave.
Overall the narrator seems to be a woman who feels alienated or outcast from society. She offers the listener a chance of brief intimacy but warns him that she will ultimately bring him heartache, because she is fated to remain alone, unknown, and unnamed.
There are two main characters in this song, the narrator "me" and the listener "you". The first verse establishes a relationship between the two. The lyrics play on the word "know", which has a double meaning of interpersonal knowledge and "carnal knowledge", i.e. sex. The verse suggests that the listener can spend the night with the narrator, but she is unwilling or unable to form a more permanent connection.
The next two verses are somewhat ambiguous but seem to be contrasting the narrator with other women. Other women may bring riches, loving words, family -- the narrator will only bring pain. This almost seems like the narrator is warning the listener about herself. She will come into his life and then leave him with only the wind on the hill to remember her. He may find other women who look like her, but they won't be the same.
The last two verses seem to concern the narrator's fate. Again, she places herself in context with other women: Some will die for money, some will die as rich or poor as they were born. Some will claim to be willing to die for love, although the implication seems to be that this may not be true when put to the test. Some women "die every morn", perhaps referring to the metaphorical death of lovers who must separate in the morning. The narrator feels that she'll die alone, among strangers, and buried in a nameless grave.
Overall the narrator seems to be a woman who feels alienated or outcast from society. She offers the listener a chance of brief intimacy but warns him that she will ultimately bring him heartache, because she is fated to remain alone, unknown, and unnamed.