Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a picture of sleepless nights and a profound sense of distance, a stark contrast to a past where the narrator felt constantly occupied with the other person. There's a lingering thought of always 'running round,' suggesting a restless, perhaps unfulfilled, state of being that the narrator couldn't escape.
The central tension arises from a dawning, painful realization about the nature of relationships and understanding. The narrator grapples with the idea that even when someone is 'good at love,' or believes themselves to be, permanence isn't guaranteed. The repeated phrase 'That'll never, ever, remain' acts as a somber refrain, underscoring the ephemeral quality of connection and understanding.
A particularly striking element is the conditional understanding introduced by 'But when a man / Has the power to understand.' This suggests that true comprehension, perhaps of the impermanence of things or the limits of one's own abilities, leads to a state where nothing, not even the relationship, can endure. It implies that a certain level of insight brings about an inevitable dissolution, a bitter irony.
This lyrical construction is effective because it grounds abstract feelings of loss and disillusionment in a specific, almost philosophical, contemplation of understanding. The narrator isn't just sad; they're processing a hard-won, albeit unwelcome, truth about the fragility of what they thought was stable, making the 'falling out' feel less like a sudden event and more like an inevitable consequence of deeper awareness.