I think Sam is literally singing about leaving a relationship and her need for love.\n\nVerse 1 -- very straightforward\n\nSam is singing about leaving a relationship, even though her conscience wails at her to stay. She doesn\'t want to deal with the fallout immediately, and so "walks" away from it, locking a mental door on her feelings regarding it, and "putting the pain on file" to deal with at another time. First things first -- leave.\n\nShe\'s certain about leaving because the relationship is "broken like a window" and that means it\'s absolutely shattered, It can\'t be repaired.\n\nFinally, she says "I see my blindness now." This suggests that there were signs that she ignored that the relationship was failing. You know the ones: the phone rings, you pick up, the other person hangs up; your Significant Other begins working later and later at work, can\'t make it home for dinner, don\'t wait up for him/her; you plan a weekend get-away, and suddenly "work" prevents your S.O. from attending even though you\'ve already left. Yeah, once you see your blindness, it all makes sense...\n\nVerse 2 -- the need for love -- straightforward again\n\nHumans need love, that\'s a given (Don\'t believe it? Read about the "Romanian Orphanage Syndrome" of the 1990s -- it\'s scary.) Sam, on the rebound from a "loving relationship" she just left, doesn\'t want to find a(nother) "sentimental prison," she wants a deeper love. Not the "childhood sweetheart, married after high school, bought-a-house-started-a-family, now queen of the kitchen and laundry room" kind of love, but something more fulfilling.\n\nTrying to find that love in religion leads her to distinguishing between "The Church" and "God," in that the church can be a man-made earthly institution that is involved in a lot of political activities, while "God" can actually fill/mend an injured heart. Sam wants to find that God, and laments "the church" as a poor mediator/substitute.\n\nVerse 3 -- literal, or figurative?\n\nSam, having left a relationship, drives to another city, where the neon lights seem to blink messages at her. Now physically away from and freed of her prior relationship, she finds "peace" (peace of mind? peace of body? security from abuse?). But this "peace" that she\'s found also doesn\'t include Love, and that\'s so high a price, she sings "I don\'t know what it means." How desirable is "Peace" if it comes without "Love?"\n\nShe ends by singing, "I need love."
I think Sam is literally singing about leaving a relationship and her need for love.\n\nVerse 1 -- very straightforward\n\nSam is singing about leaving a relationship, even though her conscience wails at her to stay. She doesn\'t want to deal with the fallout immediately, and so "walks" away from it, locking a mental door on her feelings regarding it, and "putting the pain on file" to deal with at another time. First things first -- leave.\n\nShe\'s certain about leaving because the relationship is "broken like a window" and that means it\'s absolutely shattered, It can\'t be repaired.\n\nFinally, she says "I see my blindness now." This suggests that there were signs that she ignored that the relationship was failing. You know the ones: the phone rings, you pick up, the other person hangs up; your Significant Other begins working later and later at work, can\'t make it home for dinner, don\'t wait up for him/her; you plan a weekend get-away, and suddenly "work" prevents your S.O. from attending even though you\'ve already left. Yeah, once you see your blindness, it all makes sense...\n\nVerse 2 -- the need for love -- straightforward again\n\nHumans need love, that\'s a given (Don\'t believe it? Read about the "Romanian Orphanage Syndrome" of the 1990s -- it\'s scary.) Sam, on the rebound from a "loving relationship" she just left, doesn\'t want to find a(nother) "sentimental prison," she wants a deeper love. Not the "childhood sweetheart, married after high school, bought-a-house-started-a-family, now queen of the kitchen and laundry room" kind of love, but something more fulfilling.\n\nTrying to find that love in religion leads her to distinguishing between "The Church" and "God," in that the church can be a man-made earthly institution that is involved in a lot of political activities, while "God" can actually fill/mend an injured heart. Sam wants to find that God, and laments "the church" as a poor mediator/substitute.\n\nVerse 3 -- literal, or figurative?\n\nSam, having left a relationship, drives to another city, where the neon lights seem to blink messages at her. Now physically away from and freed of her prior relationship, she finds "peace" (peace of mind? peace of body? security from abuse?). But this "peace" that she\'s found also doesn\'t include Love, and that\'s so high a price, she sings "I don\'t know what it means." How desirable is "Peace" if it comes without "Love?"\n\nShe ends by singing, "I need love."