I've read all 116 comments and the most useful clue was the connection to Dark Eyed Sailor. This song is basically a modern retelling of that song. You can even sing the lyrics of Dark Eyed Sailor to the music of A-Punk.
Dark Eyed Sailor is about a young woman who has half of a promise ring given to her by a sailor. He disappears for seven years and she thinks his half of the ring is "rolling at the bottom of the sea". A man she is speaking to, asks her why she hasn't found another lover, which makes her indignant. It turns out though, that HE is her Sailor (His Honor) and they marry and live happily ever after. Moral of the story surmised in the last line "So maids be loyal when your love’s at sea... For a cloudy morning brings in a sunny day."
VW's version is a bit darker. The girl in this one is probably a nurse at Sloan Kettering. She's driving from New Jersey into NYC with her boyfriend who is a sailor or boatman of some sort (there are many docks near the Hudson inlet). "His Honor" in this version is used sarcastically. He gives her a promise ring which carries 1000 year commitment, but she's hardened by the things she's seen at her job, and takes it.
The raincoats are what seamen wear, hence the chorus.
"His Honor" abandons his job (and Johanna) and goes to a landlocked state, seeking a change. "Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" means he learns to play music (maybe joins "A-Punk" band 'ey?) while down there. Meanwhile Johanna has moved to an apartment near the Hudson River in Washington Heights, and the song ends where the first one begins. Johanna tells the narrator she's holding a flame for her lover. She still has her half of the ring and thinks her lover is lost to the sea.
I don't think the narrator is the lover, since he also inserts himself into the story of Dark Eyed Sailor, but only as a witness. Every day she sees the Hudson from her apartment: Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh".
I've read all 116 comments and the most useful clue was the connection to Dark Eyed Sailor. This song is basically a modern retelling of that song. You can even sing the lyrics of Dark Eyed Sailor to the music of A-Punk.
Dark Eyed Sailor is about a young woman who has half of a promise ring given to her by a sailor. He disappears for seven years and she thinks his half of the ring is "rolling at the bottom of the sea". A man she is speaking to, asks her why she hasn't found another lover, which makes her indignant. It turns out though, that HE is her Sailor (His Honor) and they marry and live happily ever after. Moral of the story surmised in the last line "So maids be loyal when your love’s at sea... For a cloudy morning brings in a sunny day."
VW's version is a bit darker. The girl in this one is probably a nurse at Sloan Kettering. She's driving from New Jersey into NYC with her boyfriend who is a sailor or boatman of some sort (there are many docks near the Hudson inlet). "His Honor" in this version is used sarcastically. He gives her a promise ring which carries 1000 year commitment, but she's hardened by the things she's seen at her job, and takes it.
The raincoats are what seamen wear, hence the chorus.
"His Honor" abandons his job (and Johanna) and goes to a landlocked state, seeking a change. "Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" means he learns to play music (maybe joins "A-Punk" band 'ey?) while down there. Meanwhile Johanna has moved to an apartment near the Hudson River in Washington Heights, and the song ends where the first one begins. Johanna tells the narrator she's holding a flame for her lover. She still has her half of the ring and thinks her lover is lost to the sea.
I don't think the narrator is the lover, since he also inserts himself into the story of Dark Eyed Sailor, but only as a witness. Every day she sees the Hudson from her apartment: Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh".