Tim Easton - Watching The Lightning
From the email....
I have no official confirmation of my theory, but I believe the song is about Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. The narrative changes tense and point of view several times in possibly an attempt to obscure meaning or show how the narrator relates to a third-party story. Dylan did this in Tangled Up In Blue that some say is his most autobiographical song (obscured the meaning by changing tense).
The first thing that made me think of Kurt was the lyric "Everybody always knew that he would die in some f#%#^ up way". Then I hear "He knew our pain; we knew his heart was not in the gutter. He never meant to leave you." But it was only when coupled with "I can't believe you read that letter." that I thought of Courtney reading his suicide note and then thought the "pick yourself back up" was for her.
I could be way off the mark, but listen and see what you think.
I first heard this track on the Uncut - Only Love Can Break Your Heart compilation which is the first place I heard Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up; starting an Alt-Country journey I am still on.
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