Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a complicated relationship with love, framed by a struggle for innocence. The narrator counts off numbers, then immediately declares love as a law they've repeatedly broken, suggesting a history of transgression. This sets up a core tension: the desire to reclaim something lost, a "life-long fight" to simply "get home at night," implying a difficult, perhaps even dangerous, existence. The central conflict appears to be the narrator's relationship with "innocence," which is presented in a dualistic way. They were "born in her arms," "in her smile," and "in her world," but also "with her fist." This suggests innocence is not just a state of purity but also something that can be forceful or even punitive, a complex inheritance. The lyrics use repetition and contrasting imagery to highlight this duality. "Love is a law" is juxtaposed with "Love is a bore" and "Love is a flame," showing a shifting perception of love from something restrictive to something potentially exciting but demanding. The repeated phrase "Innocence" after lines describing both comfort ("her arms," "her smile") and hardship ("her fist") underscores the idea that innocence itself is not simple or easily attained. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their raw, almost confessional tone and the stark, contradictory images used to describe innocence and love. The plea "Don't go, darling / Stay small, darling / Don't go growing up" reveals a deep-seated fear of losing this complex innocence, perhaps projecting a desire for a simpler past onto another person. The final, repeated "Oh, innocence" feels like a desperate, almost mournful invocation of a lost or unattainable state.