I have a completely different interpretation of this song than the others I'm seeing. I think the "17, nature's queen" and "21, the lone one" are the same person, that being a girl who was once very popular and a few years ago and finds she's now alone and in a hard world, and she can't deal with it. So, she commits suicide. Then, someone else, a man, comes along and sees her dead body and pretty face, and thinks it's a terrible shame--he might have wanted to know her--and he wonders if her act has condemned her in what might be her afterlife.
I have a completely different interpretation of this song than the others I'm seeing. I think the "17, nature's queen" and "21, the lone one" are the same person, that being a girl who was once very popular and a few years ago and finds she's now alone and in a hard world, and she can't deal with it. So, she commits suicide. Then, someone else, a man, comes along and sees her dead body and pretty face, and thinks it's a terrible shame--he might have wanted to know her--and he wonders if her act has condemned her in what might be her afterlife.
@gchadder3 This is the correct interpretation.
@gchadder3 This is the correct interpretation.