So, here, presently, I will present my thoughts on the song, then, after a period, I will locate and read the play, Much Ado About Nothing, write again my thoughts on that, followed finally by Joss Whedon's film version.
Serve God, love me and mend
This is not the end
Live unbruised, we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And, you know me
You know me
But man is a giddy thing
Oh, man is a giddy thing
Oh, man is a giddy thing
Oh, man is a giddy thing
Love, it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design, an alignment
A cry of my heart to see
The beauty of love as it was made to be.
According to a quick google search, the second verse is the quote from the play. It speaks to the giddy nature of man; one foot in a ship, yearning to enact the listless life of sailors; whoring women, whoring ports of call, and callous, thoughtless experiences, and the other foot on the shore, ready to love one land, one woman, one experience. My heart was never pure.
"My heart was never pure, " he said to his exasperated lover. "You knew that when we started out on this journey." This is not an excuse, nor a cop-out. This is a heartfelt acknowledgment of guilt, of a profound, roots deep problem.
Then, his lover exclaims love to him. Urging him to be the man he was made to be. Saying, "Sure, you fucked up, and it sucks. But you are not bound to that."
Oh! And then with despair, hope, repentance, desire, and fear he cries the most religious word: "Yes!" There is something there, a design, a tugging in my heart, to know what it is to stand with both feet on the shore. "I want to love one woman, one land, one story, one life."
Then, ad infinitum. Until it takes. His lover replies, "Serve God, love me and mend. This is not the end. Live unbruised, we are friends."
"I'm sorry."
I'm sorry.
