The genius of this song is it could be either about a tree or a woman. One example is she "nettles" him but he doesn't mind, only when "her branches lean beneath the snow". If he's referring to a tree, he could be talking about being pricked by pine needles and it's worse when they're hidden beneath the snow. If he's referring to a woman, it could be he doesn't mind her minor barbs but when she gets under his skin, he minds. In the final analysis, there are more good things about the knotty pine, be it tree or woman, that the writer likes.
The genius of this song is it could be either about a tree or a woman. One example is she "nettles" him but he doesn't mind, only when "her branches lean beneath the snow". If he's referring to a tree, he could be talking about being pricked by pine needles and it's worse when they're hidden beneath the snow. If he's referring to a woman, it could be he doesn't mind her minor barbs but when she gets under his skin, he minds. In the final analysis, there are more good things about the knotty pine, be it tree or woman, that the writer likes.