Post by sparacus on Aug 6, 2014 16:57:43 GMT
In my view, this song is about a gay guy struggling with his sexuality and who has been in a relationship with a woman which he now feels he has to end.
They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones
’Twas then he felt alone and wished that he’d gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate
The first verse indicates that there is a tension between the former lovers as they sit in the park. Something is wrong, ie the guy has just 'come out' to the woman. He had been living a lie, trying to 'go straight' and he still wishes he could do so. He has internalized society's expectations of him however he cannot continue to live a lie. His sexuality was not down to choice but to, "..a simple twist of fate".
They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin’ bright
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate
They walk by the canal, the woman confused and the man unsure about whether he has done the right thing. They go into a 'strange hotel', a metaphor for the sense of strangeness that they both feel now that the guy has been honest. Yet with the "neon burnin' bright", the artificial light being a metaphor for the artificial falseness of their prior relationship, which is still there. It still needs to run its course.
A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walkin’ by the arcade
As the light bust through a beat-up shade where he was wakin’ up,
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate
They spend the night together in the hotel but the woman leaves before he wakes up. She has realised that their relationship has been a lie all along and the guy has been deluding himself. She hears a saxophone playing in the distance, symbolizing her inner solitude. Desperate to forget she gives money to a blind beggar as a means of distracting her thoughts from her situation.
He woke up, the room was bare
He didn’t see her anywhere
He told himself he didn’t care, pushed the window open wide
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate
The guy wakes up and realises that the woman has left him. He pretends he doesn't care and, 'pushed the window open wide', a metaphor for coming out as gay. However he cannot overcome his own self-repression and so feels an emptiness inside that he can't relate to as he thought that coming out would overcome this. He realises that this is also due to a simple twist of fate.
He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailors all come in
Maybe she’ll pick him out again, how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate
Desperate, the guy goes down to the docks. He tells himself that it is too look for the girl but secretly he is cruising for sailors. Confused and in a state of self-loathing, he hopes that the girl will, "pick him out again..." and save him from himself. He has with him, "a parrot that talks", a metaphor for following and speaking the views of others. He has been repressed by the homophobia of society and has internalised this. He parrots accepted views and exists in a state of repression.
People tell me it’s a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate
The guy has internalised the views of those who see his sexuality as, .."a sin". But he has lost the desire to conform to the straight world , symbolized by the ring and its connotations with heterosexual marriage. The girl was, "born in spring, but I was born too late", ie what they want relationship wise is now incompatible. The guy again blames his sexuality on a simple twist of fate.
They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones
’Twas then he felt alone and wished that he’d gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate
The first verse indicates that there is a tension between the former lovers as they sit in the park. Something is wrong, ie the guy has just 'come out' to the woman. He had been living a lie, trying to 'go straight' and he still wishes he could do so. He has internalized society's expectations of him however he cannot continue to live a lie. His sexuality was not down to choice but to, "..a simple twist of fate".
They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin’ bright
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate
They walk by the canal, the woman confused and the man unsure about whether he has done the right thing. They go into a 'strange hotel', a metaphor for the sense of strangeness that they both feel now that the guy has been honest. Yet with the "neon burnin' bright", the artificial light being a metaphor for the artificial falseness of their prior relationship, which is still there. It still needs to run its course.
A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walkin’ by the arcade
As the light bust through a beat-up shade where he was wakin’ up,
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate
They spend the night together in the hotel but the woman leaves before he wakes up. She has realised that their relationship has been a lie all along and the guy has been deluding himself. She hears a saxophone playing in the distance, symbolizing her inner solitude. Desperate to forget she gives money to a blind beggar as a means of distracting her thoughts from her situation.
He woke up, the room was bare
He didn’t see her anywhere
He told himself he didn’t care, pushed the window open wide
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate
The guy wakes up and realises that the woman has left him. He pretends he doesn't care and, 'pushed the window open wide', a metaphor for coming out as gay. However he cannot overcome his own self-repression and so feels an emptiness inside that he can't relate to as he thought that coming out would overcome this. He realises that this is also due to a simple twist of fate.
He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailors all come in
Maybe she’ll pick him out again, how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate
Desperate, the guy goes down to the docks. He tells himself that it is too look for the girl but secretly he is cruising for sailors. Confused and in a state of self-loathing, he hopes that the girl will, "pick him out again..." and save him from himself. He has with him, "a parrot that talks", a metaphor for following and speaking the views of others. He has been repressed by the homophobia of society and has internalised this. He parrots accepted views and exists in a state of repression.
People tell me it’s a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate
The guy has internalised the views of those who see his sexuality as, .."a sin". But he has lost the desire to conform to the straight world , symbolized by the ring and its connotations with heterosexual marriage. The girl was, "born in spring, but I was born too late", ie what they want relationship wise is now incompatible. The guy again blames his sexuality on a simple twist of fate.