Lyric discussion by ELS24 

Cover art for The Ship Song lyrics by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

I agree with Lady Evelnhair, this is a beautiful song. I love it. I have only heard the version with Concrete Blonde and it is so good.
My favorite lines are:

Your face has fallen sad now For you know the time is nigh When I must remove your wings And you, you must try to fly

It is about letting someone you love go. It may be sad, but it is the right thing to do. Although, I have always wondered why the songs speaks of "removing wings" when it is hard to fly without them? Perhaps that is the irony in it?

when you love someone you give this person wings (often used expression) so when you let this person go, you remove their wings...

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yes, and to "try to fly" means find someone and move on.

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