Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a surreal, almost dreamlike portrait of someone named Debora. The opening repetition of "Dug and redug" immediately establishes a sense of obsessive searching or perhaps a cyclical, ingrained action. This sets a tone of deep introspection or a fixation on something hidden.
There's a striking contrast between the mundane act of digging and the fantastical imagery used to describe Debora. She's compared to a zebra, her "sunken lace" evokes the "Spanish main," and she's dressed like a "conjurer." These images create a sense of exoticism and mystery surrounding her, making her seem both familiar and utterly alien.
The recurring image of the "stallion" is particularly potent. The narrator is "riding" it while seeing Debora's "young face smiling," and then Debora herself is likened to a "stallion." This suggests a powerful, perhaps untamed, energy associated with both the narrator's pursuit and Debora herself, blurring the lines between observer and observed, or perhaps between desire and its object.
Ultimately, the lyrics seem to capture a feeling of intense, almost ritualistic fascination. The fragmented, evocative imagery and the obsessive repetition create a potent atmosphere, leaving the listener to ponder the nature of this fixation and the enigmatic figure of Debora.