Song Meanings: Castaway

[UndoingTheLaces]

I thought it might be fun to take a Stevie song and talk about what it means, either to us personally, how we interpret the lyrics or if we have something directly from Stevie in an interview where she's mentioned it. I know there's a website for this but it's been there for a while. I thought this might be something more personal and fun.

I think each song could have it's own thread and people can start they're own. So I'm choosing Castaway, because it's my favorite demo.

I've always thought this song was about having broken up with someone casually and then wondering if the things that bothered you about them were their fault or your own. You know, like you feel you have noting in common with someone but then you realize you've never opened up to them, so they really don't know how to relate to you. That's what I think of in the line "was this your world or just my darkness?" Was I really seeing you for you or was I just projecting all my stuff onto you.

Although I must say the part about, "I could leave today but I could never offer freedom", used to make me think it was a little self-flattering. As if to say if you leave him he'll always be pining for you. But now that I'm writing this I'm thinking it's a little more like saying that he'll always have a place in your heart, like it or not", followed up by the line "I guess I miss you". They aren't the words of someone who can't live without this person, but rather a fondness for someone they'll be sad to see go but won't be that broken up about.

Angels running from the heartless seems to me like a metaphor for the fact that there are worse things in the world than this. Yes I'm leaving you but somewhere there are angels running from the heartless.

And "play another role and your mystery changes" kind of suggests that she knows he'll meet someone else and when he does he'll become someone else. Some people take on the personality of those who they are with. And in this case she seems to be okay with it. It's not said out of malice but more like she's off the hook. I'm leaving, he'll be okay.

What do you guys think?

[michelej1]

I love lyric interpretations. There used to be a forum for it here. It's not online now, though, but there are interpretations for 100-200 songs that everyone contributed to. Really nice.

I think I agree most with your initial interpretation about freedom. Although, I would say that not only would he still be pining for her, if she left. If he left. But he would still be haunted and trapped -- by things that might not even relate to her directly.

And I like the way she flips back and forth. She doesn't know if it's her hole, her darkness, her mystery. His mystery, his hole, his darkness. It goes back and forth. But when you're a couple, such definitions and lines of separation don't really matter anyway. You color the other person. You bring them down. Increase their bad tendencies. And vice versa. Double the angst, double the problem. Of course, you can bring them up too, but this song is not about that positive part of a relationship.

The term "castaway" fits into the them. Is he someone who has been cast away by her or is he someone that was always a castaway. He stole aboard on a trip that he was not really invited on. Took a seat where he is not wanted. I like the ambiguity even more because it comes up in Lindsey's song CAD as well.

I'm not sure what "angels running from the heartless" means to me, but I guess it just goes back to him being a castaway. Her castaway. She has pushed him away and angels run from this callous, insensitive act and the destruction it can cause. The pain that accrues when you no longer want a person. She hasn't left him yet, but she's not with him. Sees through him and past him and beyond to a future without him.

Michele

[KarmaContestant]

"I could leave today but I can never offer freedom."

Maybe she's saying I can leave you today, but I'll never really let you go. You'll never be free of my heart. I'll never stop loving you. You'll never get away from the sound of the woman... Yeah.

[UndoingTheLaces]

Originally Posted by michelej1

She hasn't left him yet, but she's not with him. Sees through him and past him and beyond to a future without him.

Thanks for playing along. I was hoping I wouldn't be alone in this, heh heh.

Michele, you made me think of something I hadn't before. She sings the chorus two ways. "He knows that I do not see him" and "He knows I don't really see him". And that's kind of the key. She's looking right at him but she's not really seeing him. And he knows that. He knows she's already mentally moved on to the next guy. And it's a heartless thing. So even the angels run from it. But after all of it, she still has a reverence for him (I guess I miss you). I love that line so much because of the subtlety.