The love song.
Among all the love songs I've heard, "The" love song…
I've always felt it was a love song, even before hearing the story behind it, haven't you? Do you need this story to be sure it's a love song?
Well, for the ones who don't know this story, James wrote this song for the girl who was his love at that time in his life. Things changed since then and I've read he doesn't have a clue how he could have ever written such a song for this person. And now it's mainly considered as a tribute to the fans.
So, all in all, it's all about love…

"So close no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart": Distance… two persons loving each other are not parted by material distances. Those persons can "feel" each other near at any time and in any place, no matter the distances between them : their heart are next to each other, tied together.
The one you love, the ones you love are those you speak to from the heart, from the depth of your soul if you prefer. You don't really "think" about what you tell them, with them, you speak from heart to heart.

"Forever trusting who we are and nothing else matters": Forever relying on this heart of ours, our center, this thing we feel inside of us that makes us say "that's me", it's not about ideas or emotions, small or big, it's the place where our most powerful feelings come from. When we focus on it, when we look at the world from this "place", we see that everything could collapses around, this would remain still.

"Never opened myself this way": This person he's writing to is the first one to make him feel like opening up, the first one to show him enough understanding and concern to make him feel inclined to show her so much of himself.

"Life is ours we live it our way": Well, you go by what you trust and when you trust who you are, you go all by yourself, you don't follow anyone, you're independent.

"All these words I don't just say": I can't resist… Lars couldn't have written that line, right? The man who's writing is a rather silent one… When he doesn't shout at Lars… No, I couldn't resist…
Seriously, for being a rather silent person, I often don't speak "enough" to be understood. I just don't find the right words at the right time and I can feel how much those words can be missed by my family and friends. They feel attacked by my silences… Well, maybe sometimes they would feel attacked by what I would have to say… But the thing is: I even hardly find words for the feelings they inspire me… The nice feelings I mean…
For some silent ones, the only way to express what they don't find words for is to take a pen… and a guitar if they can.

"And nothing else matters": When I look at those three last line, at first they don't seem to be related (only by the rhyme), especially the last one with "and nothing else matters". But I can find a link. Despite of the things he doesn't say, as he is talking to someone who understands him like never anyone before, the things he does, the way he acts and lives is life is enough to show what he means, the way he feels.
Then, the words don't really matter anymore, who you are simply shows in what you do.

"Trust I seek and I find in you": This sends me back to "forever trusting who we are". He's been searching for trust in himself and this leads him to search for what he can trust in the outside world too.
Well, he found trust in himself as well as in someone else.
Same old story of the world being a mirror to yourself.

"Every day for us something new": Every day is Christmas… I feel life can really be like that when you live it your own way: each day bringing you new challenges, new gifts, surprises… It doesn't keep you from disappointment unless you welcome each event as a present, whatever it might be, however tough or sweet it may feel.

"Open mind for a different view and nothing else matters": What doesn't look like a present from a certain point of view, may look like one from another. What you may need sometimes is not to change things but to change the way you see them: to keep your mind opened, in motion. And that way, every day is Christmas.

"Never cared for what they do, never cared for what they know, but I know" and later: "Never cared for what they say, never cared for games they play":
The independent mind, the one who trusts his heart, who doesn't "give a shit"… about pieces of advice given by people who don't really know him, about criticism coming from people who don't really care for him, about teachings from people who haven't been where he's been, about hypocrite people's attempts of manipulation…
He doesn't listen to them but he knows: he's not learning from others, he's learning from his heart, from what he can trust,… what he found of him in her.
And there even seems to be much more in this "I know", it seems to contain all the dramatic tension of the song, all its melancholy… It's merely an impression I get when I listen to it, it's vague and seems to come out of nowhere, it sounds as a gaze given at a painful past and then turned towards the days to come, a future expected with trust in oneself, trust in one's ability to face it all again if it should come back.

Now, some are going to say: "Wow ! He found all this in her and they're not together anymore? So he lost it all?".
To me, the girl just ceased to inspire him what the song is about. She lost her ability to reflect it, whatever the reason may be... this is none of our business...
She came in his life just at the moment he had become able to express such feelings, she appeared as the one who brought them when she was just the one able to reflect them.
When you take a mirror away from in front of your face, you don't disappear, right?
Anyway, we can all be very thankful to her: she's been a kind of muse and did a great job.
One of my friends once said that to write this song James seems to have taken his heart out of his chest, squeezed it to obtain its very essence and by mysterious means, put that liquid into his voice, fingers and guitar.
I would add this song makes me feel like we all might be somehow sharing something of the same heart… And a guy who has uncovered his can help you uncover yours…

May, 22nd-23rd-24th, 2001.