Inconstancy In Love

Song Meaning

These lyrics immediately confront the idea of female complaint about male "inconstancy in love." The speaker quickly pivots, using nature's relentless change as a defense for "Fickle Man." It's a bold, almost cheeky, opening that sets a defiant tone. The central tension here lies between societal expectations of romantic constancy and the speaker's assertion that change is a fundamental, unavoidable "Law" of existence. The speaker frames male inconstancy not as a flaw, but as an alignment with this natural order, challenging the very premise of the complaint. The most striking craft element is the extensive use of natural imagery—"winds, and... skies," "Ocean's ebb, and ocean's flow," "Sun and moon," "seasons go"—to build an irrefutable case. This grand scale of natural flux is then ironically applied to justify the comparatively trivial "rove" of "silly Man," making the personal seem universal. Ultimately, the lyrics are effective because they disarm potential criticism with a seemingly unassailable, if specious, argument. The final lines, "We'll be constant while we can— You can be no more, you know," deliver a final, almost taunting, twist, suggesting that even the accusers are subject to the same impermanence, thus leveling the playing field and excusing the speaker's position.