I get a slightly different vibe between the two sides of this song.
In the first, the thing that strikes me is the line "As I lulled and lingered, the ring slipped my finger". Why does a man usually wear a ring that would be significant in this case? He's married.
His attitude is different than in wild rushes. He's happy to "die" for his new "bride". My simple interpretation is a man unhappy in marriage, who is happy to die. I'm not sure death is literal here though. It might just mean the end of what his life was if you want to have an open interpretation.
In wild rushes, the young man is foolish. He doesn't know what's about to happen. He doesn't know what he's getting into. In this case, if you want a more open interpretation, it ends a simple childlike state, he can't undo what happens, be that pregnancy or disease or maybe just emotional harm from a terrible relationship. Actually, this may not even be in reference to sexual temptation at all. It could be any alluring idea or situation that will cause ruin in the end.
There are promises made to the young man, but the subject using to tempt him (sex) is in theory never delivered. That means that whomever or whatever is tempting him has no intention of giving him what he wants.
Traditionally this situation is warning young men not to sin. In this case "the sin is sweeter" is explicitly referenced but I doubt Colin would mean it in the traditional sense. I have to imagine sin here is meaning indulgence that leads to harm.
I get a slightly different vibe between the two sides of this song.
In the first, the thing that strikes me is the line "As I lulled and lingered, the ring slipped my finger". Why does a man usually wear a ring that would be significant in this case? He's married.
His attitude is different than in wild rushes. He's happy to "die" for his new "bride". My simple interpretation is a man unhappy in marriage, who is happy to die. I'm not sure death is literal here though. It might just mean the end of what his life was if you want to have an open interpretation.
In wild rushes, the young man is foolish. He doesn't know what's about to happen. He doesn't know what he's getting into. In this case, if you want a more open interpretation, it ends a simple childlike state, he can't undo what happens, be that pregnancy or disease or maybe just emotional harm from a terrible relationship. Actually, this may not even be in reference to sexual temptation at all. It could be any alluring idea or situation that will cause ruin in the end.
There are promises made to the young man, but the subject using to tempt him (sex) is in theory never delivered. That means that whomever or whatever is tempting him has no intention of giving him what he wants.
Traditionally this situation is warning young men not to sin. In this case "the sin is sweeter" is explicitly referenced but I doubt Colin would mean it in the traditional sense. I have to imagine sin here is meaning indulgence that leads to harm.