Lune de Miel

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a couple whose honeymoon, or "lune de miel," is far from idyllic. They've seen places like the Netherlands and are heading to Terre Haute, but a summer night finds them in Ravenna, dealing with physical discomfort and insect bites. The act of "raising the sheet to scratch more" suggests a raw, unglamorous reality beneath any romantic pretense. Their journey continues with a train ride from Padua to Milan, described as "prolonging their miseries." This isn't a grand tour; it's a continuation of hardship, marked by mundane concerns like finding the "Cenacolo" and a "cheap restaurant." The husband's focus on "tips" and drafting his "balance sheet" further underscores a practical, perhaps even dreary, outlook on their travels. The contrast between their immediate, uncomfortable experience and the historical grandeur of Saint Apollinaire in Classe is striking. The basilica, described as a "stiff and ascetic / old disused factory of God," still holds "the precise form of Byzantium" in its crumbling stones. This juxtaposition highlights a disconnect between the couple's mundane present and the enduring, albeit decaying, remnants of a more profound past. Ultimately, the lyrics suggest a honeymoon that is less about romantic bliss and more about enduring a series of geographically disparate, unromantic experiences. The writing crafts this feeling through specific, unvarnished details – the "soft legs swollen with bites" and the husband's financial calculations – creating a sense of anticlimax and the quiet desperation of a journey that feels more like an obligation than a celebration.