The biggest problem here is nothing's working properly any longer for the folks occupying Mary Epworth's gorgeous, sad songs. The sad songs have found themselves happily attaching themselves to these people, giving them a theme that they can understand. We're not sure who's breathing life into whom - the songs breathing life into these people or the people bringing the songs to life. It's a little of both, as Epworth sings plaintively about loves that have come undone and lives that have followed suit. To their credit, these loves never seemed too permanent, but more like they were affixed via some worn Velcro or some weakened Scotch tape.
Many of these circumstances sound as if they were never going to be reliable. There were many wings and many prayers and those don't usually work out too well. It's just the way it is and that's something that has to be dealt with in one's own personal way. Epworth attempts to make amends here, between the divides, by believing that there could be amendments. Her characters have wisely spotted the deficiencies and they'd like to mind the gap. They'd like to soften the hurt as much as they can.
The thought here is that we can get back to better times, that it might be doable to just wipe out much of the pain and alter course. Epworth sings, "You should be swaying with me." She sings that - even though she knows that this "sweet boy" is about to leave her, to go away - he should just be staying with her. He should not be doing what she knows he's going to do. We're not really sure what the real reasons for the departure are, but really, they hardly ever matter. Someone's leaving and that is all there is to it.
Epworth's characters steady themselves courageously, or as much as they can, with her singing, "This is a dead house/Everything is broken/Nothing is moving/Everything is still/I chose to do my penance here/For fear of finding worse/And now I find the strength of mine I need to lift the curse/So lean yourself along me/Lean yourself along/For all the things we may be/For fear of being wrong."