Keep Your Distance
Navigating Love's Maze: Richard Thompson's 'Keep Your Distance' Insights
Lyrics
If I cross your path again,
If our paths cross again
Who knows where,
Uncertain of the location
Who knows when
Uncertain of the timing
On some morning without number,
On an unspecified morning
On some highway without end
On an endless highway
Don't grasp my hand and say
Don't express fate's influence
"Fate has brought you here today"
Fate is playing with us
Oh fate is only fooling with us, friend
Fate is unpredictable and deceptive
Keep your distance, oh keep your distance
Emphasizing the need for distance
When I feel you close to me what can I do but fall
Unable to resist falling when close
Keep your distance, keep your distance
Reiteration of the importance of distance
Ah with us it must be all or none at all
For them, it's either everything or nothing
It's a desperate game we play,
Describing their risky relationship
Throw our souls, our lives, away
Sacrificing their souls and lives
Wounds that can't be mended
Irreparable wounds and unpaid debts
And debts that can't be paid
Highlighting the consequences
Oh I played and I got stung
Personal experience of being hurt
Now I'm biting back my tongue
Suppressing the urge to speak
I'm sweeping out
Removing traces of past mistakes
The footprints where I strayed
Metaphor for correcting past errors
Keep your distance, keep your distance
Reiterating the plea for distance
When I feel you close to me what can I do but fall
Helpless in avoiding a fall
Keep your distance, oh keep your distance
Stressing the importance of distance
With us it must be all or none at all
Choosing between everything or nothing
Keep your distance, oh keep your distance
Repeated emphasis on keeping distance
When I feel you close to me what can I do but fall
Acknowledging vulnerability to falling
Keep your distance, oh keep your distance
Repeating the plea for distance
With us it must be all or none at all
Emphasizing the all-or-nothing nature
With us it must be all or none at all
Reiteration of the relationship's terms
With us it must be all or none at all
Affirming the uncompromising stance
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