A Freudian interpretation might ascribe a double meaning to the term high maintenance. In the song this term, like "the meaning" of the opening line, isn't explicit. But there are lots of clues the lyricist is giving us:
"There's an echo" of an erection...
"pulling out" of home base. Presumably after spending meaningful time in there. Not to mention at 1st, 2nd & 3rd.
"The meaning: rescuing a nightmare" of frustration, realized by his partner's demand to prolong the climax to the point of exhaustion...
"from a dream" of how good it could've been.
"The voices in my head" -- she's already one of them, another is his need for consummation.
"always screaming that none of this means anything to me" as there's no real arguing over whose unrealistic demands are failing to make the two of them closer. She may be more upset with the failure itself, blaming him for coldness. His libido's yelling about trying too hard to please.
"it's a long way back from seventeen" -- maybe an overstatement. Or maybe centimeters.
"the whispers turn into a scream" -- this is the 1st true rhyme with "dream" which could have involved a screaming climax, but...
"I -- I'm not coming home" despite having meaningfully rounded the bases & gotten there. Though the next words imply an oral alternative.
"Save your breath" as there's no point still demanding to keep it hard.
"I'm nearly bored to death" -- maybe he's saying it on the stiffy's behalf. Maybe on behalf of his end of the relationship. Or should we take it more literally? Well...
"...a stranger staring at the ceiling" remains fixed on that vision of up.
"rescuing a tiger from a tree" -- house cats can stay up there for days; the tiger may represent male virility that she dreams will be rescued (frustrated) in a global sense.
"pictures in her head are always dreaming / each of them means everything" -- if she's the same antisocial angel of the next track on the album, who says he no longer dreams of anything, then he may be hopelessly struggling to agree that his ordinary masculine wet dreams just don't count. So he fails at sharing her dreams. Too bad. By the track after that, he's looking for a rescue of his own from a whole city of angels.
"I think I met her at the minute that the rhythm was set down" -- maybe she was a blink-182 fan. Maybe his destiny.
"I'm a bit of a let-down" as opposed to a keep-up.
"I come over and over and over" -- his dreams aren't boring. And E.D. isn't the problem.
"we'll go over and over and over" -- there's no end of ruined dreams in sight, the kind that try to keep going instead of coming, while...
"back on earth, I'm broken, lost & cold," thanks to this alienating & destructive relationship that had such potential to be heavenly & healing. Will it ever end? The repeating deep percussion pattern underlying the refrain...
(pause) DA-da-da DA-da-da-da (pause)
...suggests a slowing of his once excited breath, ending altogether with "life is too short to last long". Then the song, and the album, pick up again rockin' as ever. Could the uplifted left hand with uplifted fingers and thumb, smack in the center of the cover, suggest the histrionic equivalent of beating a dead horse, as the right hand's forever out of sight somewhere down there? We see just enough upper arm to suggest where. And is that a hint of the L.A. skyline reflected in the headlights?
A Freudian interpretation might ascribe a double meaning to the term high maintenance. In the song this term, like "the meaning" of the opening line, isn't explicit. But there are lots of clues the lyricist is giving us:
"There's an echo" of an erection... "pulling out" of home base. Presumably after spending meaningful time in there. Not to mention at 1st, 2nd & 3rd. "The meaning: rescuing a nightmare" of frustration, realized by his partner's demand to prolong the climax to the point of exhaustion... "from a dream" of how good it could've been.
"The voices in my head" -- she's already one of them, another is his need for consummation. "always screaming that none of this means anything to me" as there's no real arguing over whose unrealistic demands are failing to make the two of them closer. She may be more upset with the failure itself, blaming him for coldness. His libido's yelling about trying too hard to please.
"it's a long way back from seventeen" -- maybe an overstatement. Or maybe centimeters. "the whispers turn into a scream" -- this is the 1st true rhyme with "dream" which could have involved a screaming climax, but... "I -- I'm not coming home" despite having meaningfully rounded the bases & gotten there. Though the next words imply an oral alternative. "Save your breath" as there's no point still demanding to keep it hard. "I'm nearly bored to death" -- maybe he's saying it on the stiffy's behalf. Maybe on behalf of his end of the relationship. Or should we take it more literally? Well...
"...a stranger staring at the ceiling" remains fixed on that vision of up. "rescuing a tiger from a tree" -- house cats can stay up there for days; the tiger may represent male virility that she dreams will be rescued (frustrated) in a global sense.
"pictures in her head are always dreaming / each of them means everything" -- if she's the same antisocial angel of the next track on the album, who says he no longer dreams of anything, then he may be hopelessly struggling to agree that his ordinary masculine wet dreams just don't count. So he fails at sharing her dreams. Too bad. By the track after that, he's looking for a rescue of his own from a whole city of angels.
"I think I met her at the minute that the rhythm was set down" -- maybe she was a blink-182 fan. Maybe his destiny. "I'm a bit of a let-down" as opposed to a keep-up. "I come over and over and over" -- his dreams aren't boring. And E.D. isn't the problem. "we'll go over and over and over" -- there's no end of ruined dreams in sight, the kind that try to keep going instead of coming, while...
"back on earth, I'm broken, lost & cold," thanks to this alienating & destructive relationship that had such potential to be heavenly & healing. Will it ever end? The repeating deep percussion pattern underlying the refrain...
(pause) DA-da-da DA-da-da-da (pause)
...suggests a slowing of his once excited breath, ending altogether with "life is too short to last long". Then the song, and the album, pick up again rockin' as ever. Could the uplifted left hand with uplifted fingers and thumb, smack in the center of the cover, suggest the histrionic equivalent of beating a dead horse, as the right hand's forever out of sight somewhere down there? We see just enough upper arm to suggest where. And is that a hint of the L.A. skyline reflected in the headlights?