This is a song about the very, very, broken heart of a man whose deepest emotions are driving him insane. The music compliments the lyrics perfectly in the sense that the verses are associated with perfectly peaceful things and times, and the reverb-drenched vocals are sung over very quiet, tropical sounds, while the chorus is associated with sadness and anger mixed together, and the much more clear and forward vocals are sung over loud drums and distorted guitar.
Listen to the wind on the water,
Listen to the waves upon the shore,
These lyrics, coupled with the opening music, immediately set the scene. I wouldn't be surprised if Lindsey was actually next to the ocean when he wrote these words. Deep down he's very hurt, but he's trying to surrender himself to the beauty of Nature in the hope that the sound of the wind and waves will soothe him and for a short while make him forget the past.
Try to sleep, sleep won't come,
Despite the calming and relaxing sounds of the sea at night, he can't fall asleep, which makes us realise that there is obviously something very heavy on his heart and mind.
Just as I begin to fade,
Then I remember,
Eventually the tranquility of the environment he's placed himself in begins to take effect in inducing sleep upon his troubled mind, but he is emotionally at such disrest that the calm can only win him over for a very brief period before the irresistable power of his memories of what was (at least in his mind) a perfect relationship come flooding back to haunt him. The music dramatically changes, with loud drums underlining those infinite memories rushing back to him.
When the moon was full and bright,
Here is the first of many references to the idea of a "perfect time". A full and bright moon signifies a perfect romantic night. LB and SN's relationship ended some 11 years before this song was written, and during that long period of time Lindsey (who had not wanted the relationship to end) had almost constantly thought about those years that he and Stevie were a couple, and each time made the memories better than what they were both actually feeling at the time that they were boyfriend/girlfriend, to the point where now he's convinced himself that the relationship was perfect.
And I would take you in the darkness,
And do the tango in the night,
There is of course the obvious sexual idea behind this, and it's important to note that the image he sets is not one of "having sex", but rather "making love". The tango is one of the most intimate dances, so its use here coupled with the very specific use of "subject, verb, object" of the first line (i.e. "I [Lindsey is the subject of the line] would take you [Stevie is the object of the line],") clearly shows just how much passion is involved here. I also think there is perhaps some connection between Lindsey and Stevie that involves the Tango (i.e. the dance), simply because it's such a strange (yet brilliant) metaphor to use. Perhaps they use to enjoy dancing the tango. It makes me think back to the Gypsy video.
Tango.............
While the rest of the lyircs are thoughts, this is the only spoken word in the whole song. By screaming "tango" at the top of his lungs non-stop in one note and tone for the whole bar, Lindsey is releasing all that immeasurable pain, sadness, and anger caused by the break-up and his undying will to have her again, into one giant explosive scream. The heavy, distorted and dark sounding guitar shows his state of mind.
I keep the dream in my pocket,
Here is the second example of the image of a perfect time. He's using the word "dream" here in the sense that dreams are thoughts involving total happiness. It's not clear though whether he means that he "dreams of getting back together with her again", or if he is referring to that perfectly happy time in the past when they used to be together. There is a strong possibility he is referring to both of those situations at the same time. The things we put in our pockets are our personal items and only we know the contents of our pockets. In saying that he keeps the dream in his "pocket", he is explaining how he has hidden (or at least tried to hide) his thoughts and feelings about the past and future from everybody. He is secretly still emotionally attached to her in a very great way and is afraid of anybody finding out, especially her.
Never let it fade away,
He has not been able to forget any of that very magical time, and he doesn't
want to forget either. Even though the memories only bring him heartache and sorrow, he refuses to even
try to
permanently let go of the past (unlike the beginning of the song where he wants to stop thinking about it just so he can get some sleep), as it's too special for him. At first glance, this seems to verge on masochism, but is actually the actions of an emotionally trapped and helpless man.
Inside, outside,
No loneliness in this dream,
The final, and greatest example of Lindsey referring to his relationship with Stevie as a perfect time for him. We are still with the imagery of the dream being an actual object inside his pocket, and he is saying that whether you look at that solid object from the outside or if you open it and look inside, there is "no loneliness" present. Saying "No loneliness
in this dream" implies that there
is (much) loneliness
outside of "the dream", in other words, his actual life. The fact that he'd (relatively) recently broken up with C-AH after a very long and troubled relationship makes that sentiment even stronger and more understandable.
Lindsey once said "Music is a means of expression that rings truer and is more connected to things inside than speech", and the outro guitar solo really does speak for itself. It represents the deepest, and most extreme emotions of anger, pain, and sadness, which he couldn't possibly put into words.
