Song Meaning

The lyrics open with stark contrasts, pitting human flaws like smoking and violence against an idealized, unblemished divinity. This immediately establishes a tension between the sacred and the earthly. A past memory of dancing in "safe and solemn harbors" then emerges, offering a glimpse of pure, shared joy. The core tension here lies between an unattainable spiritual perfection and the messy reality of human love and loss. The narrator appears to grapple with a past separation, hinted at by "Mary mother never left her love / For the the cold california sun," suggesting a painful departure. This memory of shared refuge from "windswept towns" underscores a longing for that protective, joyful past. The phrase "Suture science to your forehead" is particularly striking, suggesting a desperate, almost clinical attempt to mend a broken understanding or connection. This plea for a rational, perhaps painful, repair is immediately followed by "I will take the blame," revealing a profound sense of responsibility or sacrifice. The subsequent question, "Miracles for lovers' sake / Are miracle the same," subtly questions if divine intervention truly applies to the complexities of human relationships, or if love requires its own kind of, perhaps harder-won, miracles. The lyrics effectively build from wistful remembrance to a defiant declaration of future action. The repeated "I, I remember" grounds the narrative in personal experience, while the final stanza shifts to a powerful, collective "We'll ride our serpentine / We'll make a mighty wave." This imagery of dynamic, almost rebellious movement – burning "gasoline" and singing for "sacred days" – suggests a determination to forge a new, meaningful future together, not by divine grace, but through shared human will and experience. It's a reclamation of the sacred in the everyday.