ID,
My arguments are always firmly based in the text because the most convincing tend to be the ones that have the most evidence behind them in order to support what's being asserted. Anyone can interpret anything in any way they want, but credibility is another issue altogether. For example, saying a writer used the word "black" because he really meant "white" (ironically?) isn't likely to be met with much consensus. I definitely have no problem with it, though, especially if it's just to play Devil's Advocate or for fun.
Like Damo, I'm just as much cynic as I am a romantic so I feel no need to force a "lofty" message onto a song that's not already there. True, I mentioned earlier that there was internal conflict and that he does want to change her but I see too much cumulative proof in this one that the narrator's looking for much more from her than just sex. He's undoubtably written several songs in which the interpretation you seem to be lending this one could fit. Having studied the bulk of them (none of us have heard every single thing he's ever written yet), his signature trait has always been unrepentant honesty, often to the detriment. When he's bitter it's anything but passive.
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