Dissecting the Lyrics

Jars of Clay –Tea and Sympathy

I've been listening to this song a lot lately. I know it's not intended for someone and i blame it on the rainy weather that we have now. :D

I got this Interpretation about the song online

It’s unrequited love. The girl continually goes to another guy or family or friends in order to have that "tea and sympathy" that kindness when she's upset. The guy doesn't intend to leave the castle, "their relationship, their history." Their love still remains inside it as a captive waiting to be had or "rescued" in the tower, where they are supposed to strive to reach since love is perfect and cannot be reached to perfection but merely striven for. The victory songs, the good moments in the relationship are now out of tune because only bad memories pervade her thoughts. He's telling the girl, this relationship does not have to end, we can work it out, work it out with "me" and not anyone else. This is our problem. The words that break are hurtful to both of them and yet the waitress, the personification of their love seeks to clean it up. The guy takes in the pain by slowly drinking in. The bag of leaves, all the words and thoughts in his head that torment him to suppress his sadness, bitterness, grief over trying to get this girl to come back and resolve problems with him has left him bitter "in the taste of the tea" and the waitress, rather Love, tries to sweeten it back up with "a lump of sugar or two." The outro of the song emphasizes the couple can work this out. It's not over, just work it out together as the unified body and "one" that they are, instead of running away to third parties to solve and numb the pain, because the source of the problem is the only way to truly eliminate it.