This could be my 15-year-old self remembering every bad feeling from being the small, unpopular kid when this song came out in 1996, but I think he's singing about someone completely unattainable and realizing how vulnerable he is to her. She's light, he's shadow, she's perfection, he can only see her perfection. He can only take the affection she gives, and he hates himself for it. He feels absolutely helpless but desires her all the same.
This could be my 15-year-old self remembering every bad feeling from being the small, unpopular kid when this song came out in 1996, but I think he's singing about someone completely unattainable and realizing how vulnerable he is to her. She's light, he's shadow, she's perfection, he can only see her perfection. He can only take the affection she gives, and he hates himself for it. He feels absolutely helpless but desires her all the same.