Song Meaning
The narrator is driving through a rain-slicked London at 5 o'clock, heading towards Waterloo station with a sense of urgency. The repeated phrase "Rendezvous 6:02" acts as a fixed point, a destination or a meeting time that seems to be the sole purpose of this late-night, solitary journey. The city itself is depicted as a transient space, "leaving for the weekend again," amplifying the feeling of isolation in the "dark city streets."
The core tension arises from the narrator's pursuit of this specific rendezvous, which becomes increasingly elusive and surreal. They initially mistake shadows for a person, highlighting a desperate hope or perhaps a growing unease. The insistence on not missing "that train" suggests a critical, perhaps unrepeatable, opportunity tied to the 6:02 time. The shift from the physical act of driving to the spectral encounter at Waterloo marks a transition from the mundane to the uncanny.
The lyrics employ a disorienting blend of the concrete and the spectral. The specific details of "Park Lane," "Thames," and "Waterloo" ground the scene, but the encounter with the "hooded face" introduces a supernatural or allegorical element. This figure reveals that "ten years ago was the end" and "Waterloo was no more," directly contradicting the narrator's present reality and their ticket for a departing train. This creates a profound sense of temporal displacement and existential doubt.
This narrative's effectiveness lies in its ambiguous dread and the stark contrast between the narrator's determined, almost mundane, pursuit and the chilling revelation at the station. The lyrics suggest a confrontation with a past that refuses to stay buried, or a journey towards an inevitable, perhaps metaphorical, end disguised as a train departure. The final lines, urging remembrance of the face and the location, leave the listener with a lingering sense of unresolved mystery and the unsettling feeling of being caught between different realities.