It seems that Alice is straight, but unable to have a relationship with a boy - she's only 16, for goodness' sake! - and 'so' turns to gay relationships on a strictly commercial basis. Which doesn't give her the love and security she wants (and doesn't get from her own mother). All the girls love her, but not with the kind of love she needs; but they put pressure on her to continue with her gay life although it is a denial of who she really is. Or thinks she is. I assume that, though the song is set in London, the 'subway' is the Underground, where suicide by stepping off the platform is not unknown. So far, so obvious. But I wonder if Alice's life, trapped in a sexuality not her own, is like Elton John's own life before he came out, viewed in a distorting mirror or Looking-Glass. Like Alice, he had relationships with women although this didn't come naturally; luckily for him, for us, for music, he was able to become himself in the end.
It seems that Alice is straight, but unable to have a relationship with a boy - she's only 16, for goodness' sake! - and 'so' turns to gay relationships on a strictly commercial basis. Which doesn't give her the love and security she wants (and doesn't get from her own mother). All the girls love her, but not with the kind of love she needs; but they put pressure on her to continue with her gay life although it is a denial of who she really is. Or thinks she is. I assume that, though the song is set in London, the 'subway' is the Underground, where suicide by stepping off the platform is not unknown. So far, so obvious. But I wonder if Alice's life, trapped in a sexuality not her own, is like Elton John's own life before he came out, viewed in a distorting mirror or Looking-Glass. Like Alice, he had relationships with women although this didn't come naturally; luckily for him, for us, for music, he was able to become himself in the end.