It seems that this song is about someone "young and selfish" who may be starting to realise how vain and intellectually competitive they are.
Maybe it's another character speaking to them in the chorus, someone more mature telling that person how vain, selfish and immature he or she is and how he/she keeps seeking the pleasure of showing off by trying to win arguments all the time.
And that young, immature, vain and selfish person has pangs of conscience and can't sleep well at night, because he/she "won the war in the sitting room, felt proud but it cost him/her", probably he/she feels guilty for humiliating someone else or telling lies in the intellectual discussions just to be able to win. It cost him/her integrity. He/she starts to realise her/his own vanity, selfishness and immaturity.
I love Harriet but I wonder, in case my interpretation is right, if she's talking about herself in her past academic life.
By the way, most songs on that album seem to describe someone's journey dealing with their own ambition, selfishness, existential crisis, intellectuality, etc.
It seems that this song is about someone "young and selfish" who may be starting to realise how vain and intellectually competitive they are.
Maybe it's another character speaking to them in the chorus, someone more mature telling that person how vain, selfish and immature he or she is and how he/she keeps seeking the pleasure of showing off by trying to win arguments all the time.
And that young, immature, vain and selfish person has pangs of conscience and can't sleep well at night, because he/she "won the war in the sitting room, felt proud but it cost him/her", probably he/she feels guilty for humiliating someone else or telling lies in the intellectual discussions just to be able to win. It cost him/her integrity. He/she starts to realise her/his own vanity, selfishness and immaturity.
I love Harriet but I wonder, in case my interpretation is right, if she's talking about herself in her past academic life.
By the way, most songs on that album seem to describe someone's journey dealing with their own ambition, selfishness, existential crisis, intellectuality, etc.