Conversation

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of the hidden inner lives of ordinary people, suggesting a constant, subtle disconnect. We're told to watch for the "vagrant in their eyes," a mental escape into "black wood behind the skull" where individuals pursue "other realities." This internal wandering is presented as a natural, if peculiar, aspect of human consciousness, a silent fishing for unseen things while engaged in surface-level interaction. This internal drift can sometimes spill outward, as the "vagrant comes the other way," momentarily projecting onto the listener. The lyrics suggest this projection might stem from confusion, mistaking the present for a different time, "yesterday / Or for tomorrow night." It's as if this inner wanderer is searching for something lost, a "dropped stitch" or a "lost purse," in the eyes of another. However, the poem notes that this internal vagrancy is ultimately "forbidden" for "ordinary men." There's an expectation of a swift return to "normalcy," a conscious effort to re-establish direct eye contact and signal that the inner excursion won't recur. This return is marked by a "barrage of common sense" designed to prevent deeper "intimacy," though the effort isn't always perfect, leading to the surprising, almost accidental, "interpolate / Swear-words like roses in their talk."