Please wait by the line
And you know dispersive prisms rainbow
But my native optimism isn’t broken by the light
It crashed through the ceiling on me
And pinned me to the pine
And layer upon layer of hope and doubt
Will crush bones to oil in time
I pull the weight towards me
And I lack the zest of a lemon, looking forward
Unless I have a woman pushing me
Passed over the blue
A five hour flock, not one dives down
To tell you the truth
And whispers on his last wings:
So abundant are we, left alone I shall be
But a waited phone never rings
I pull the weight towards me
And I lack the zest of a lemon, looking forward
Unless I have a woman pushing me
We could hold hands for fifteen minutes in the sauna
We could hold hands for a pool length under water
I can push and pull
Her
Please wait by the line

I think this song is about loneliness. "If you're willing to wait for the love of your life, please wait by the line." This is a pretext to a line later on. Setting aside waiting by the line until it comes up again, the first part of this sentence is displaying a waiting for your true love. "And you know dispersive prisms rainbow." But we know it's a pipe dream, we know the reality that there is no Mrs. Perfect who'll come to them, and we know that he twists that reality making it softer and less convincing. Think of the dark side of the moon, think of the white line as that reality we know, think of how the white line is softened and made nicer by the protective prism. Think of how it rainbows. "But my native optimism isn't broken by the light." Although we know that the light isn't as soft and kind as it is rainbowed, but he's still optimistic. He still has hope. "The idea of life without company fell suddenly. It crashed through the ceiling on me, and pinned me to the pine." Then reality came crushing down. It fell hard and pushed him to the pine or his pining. "And layer upon layer of hope and doubt will crush bones to oil in time." As he waits for the love of his life, what he feels is crushing. "Are you a pusher or are you a puller?" He wonders if the love of his life will push him to be better or pull him along. "I pull the weight towards me." He takes in the weight of a relationship, pulling everything towards him. "And I lack the zest of a lemon, looking forward unless I have a woman pushing me" He establishes that he's depressed stating that he lacks the energy to go on through life with out someone with him. "A canopy of red-billed quelea passed over the blue." The red-billed quelea are the most common bird in the world. This is a rephrasing of the "plenty of fish in the sea" idea - the birds representing women. "A five hour flock - not one dives down to tell you the truth." As they pass, not one will dive down to give him any attention. "As night falls, a quelea crawls and whispers on his last wings, 'So abundant are we, left alone I shall be.' But a waited phone never rings." This brings us back to the line "please wait by the line" The line representing the waited phone. A quelea, in this case him, is below the "canopy of red-billed quelea," and is left alone crawling as he dies or "whispers on his last wings" He says that people are abundant, but he is left alone waiting by the line that never rings - waiting for the love of his life who never comes. "We could hold hands for fifteen minutes in the sauna. We could hold hands for a pool length under water." He's pining for the love of his love - wanting something romantic. "I can push and pull her." Placing plainly his want for someone - for the love of his life. "If you're willing to wait for the love of your life, please wait by the line." The song ends with him waiting everlastingly longer. It's about waiting for someone to love you, expecting a true love to come along and just be the right person. He waits by the line of abundant quelea to dive down to be with him, but alone he shall be as a waited phone never rings. So he's alone, and that's the overall meaning of the song.