If you were coming in the fall

Song Meaning

These lyrics plunge us into a mind consumed by anticipation, where time itself becomes a tangible, frustrating obstacle. The speaker imagines extreme measures to fast-forward through life, all for the promise of a future reunion. It's a vivid portrait of longing, where even the mundane becomes a tool for managing vast stretches of time. The poem builds its central tension through a series of escalating "If" clauses, each proposing a more drastic way to dismiss time if the beloved's arrival were certain. From casually swatting away summer "As Housewives do, a Fly" to meticulously winding months "in balls," the speaker's actions grow increasingly absurd yet intensely relatable. The ultimate hypothetical, sacrificing an entire lifetime "like a Rind" for guaranteed eternity, underscores a profound, almost desperate commitment to this future connection. What truly makes these lyrics hit hard is the abrupt shift in the final stanza. After four stanzas of hypothetical control, the speaker confronts the crushing reality: "But, now, uncertain of the length / Of this, that is between." The playful, almost whimsical tone vanishes, replaced by a raw anguish. The unknown duration of the wait becomes a torment, likened to a "Goblin Bee / That will not state its sting" – a threat that goads and paralyzes precisely because its nature and timing are concealed. This masterful use of contrast, moving from imagined certainty to present, agonizing doubt, makes the poem deeply effective. It's not the waiting itself that's unbearable, the lyrics suggest, but the *uncertainty* of its end. The speaker's willingness to endure centuries if only the destination were clear highlights how the absence of a defined timeline transforms longing into a unique, debilitating form of psychological torture.