There are so many subtle, deeply meaningful emotions conveyed in his choices of even single words in these lyrics. What an understatement to say it's a "great song".
For example,
"far too simple beauty Of the promises we made".
Note the "too simple". When they were young, their promises were beautiful, but were unrealistic, so the beauty was "too simple". Browne is really good at this, saying a lot with just a few carefully chosen words.
Another favorite moment of mine is the line:
"I could never see how you doubted me When I’d let go of your hand"
She had given him the world. They were a couple. But as the struggle goes on to "need to be separate and a need to be one", he would pull away occasionally, and never realized that every time he let go of her hand (figuratively, just meaning he pulled away to himself), it would plant a little seed of doubt, and those doubts grow over time until you aren't sure that the two of you are "one" anymore. Bit by bit, his independence was pulling them apart and he didn't see it until it was too late.
When he's writing this song, he can now look back and see how it all came undone, but it is too late to save it: "the moment has passed by me now".
And now, for the rest of his life, he will remember and see her everywhere. Yes, Mr Browne, I agree. "That's the way love is".
There are so many subtle, deeply meaningful emotions conveyed in his choices of even single words in these lyrics. What an understatement to say it's a "great song".
For example, "far too simple beauty Of the promises we made". Note the "too simple". When they were young, their promises were beautiful, but were unrealistic, so the beauty was "too simple". Browne is really good at this, saying a lot with just a few carefully chosen words. Another favorite moment of mine is the line: "I could never see how you doubted me When I’d let go of your hand" She had given him the world. They were a couple. But as the struggle goes on to "need to be separate and a need to be one", he would pull away occasionally, and never realized that every time he let go of her hand (figuratively, just meaning he pulled away to himself), it would plant a little seed of doubt, and those doubts grow over time until you aren't sure that the two of you are "one" anymore. Bit by bit, his independence was pulling them apart and he didn't see it until it was too late. When he's writing this song, he can now look back and see how it all came undone, but it is too late to save it: "the moment has passed by me now". And now, for the rest of his life, he will remember and see her everywhere. Yes, Mr Browne, I agree. "That's the way love is".
[Edit: Fix punctuation]