I found a live recording of this song (Completely legally obtained, of course. Not downloaded from Morpheus or anything. No not at all.) where she adds an extra verse to the end. I don’t know if it appears on the ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got’ version, but I thought it node-worthy.
The rest of the song in this version is relatively quiet and minimally accompanied. Right before this last verse though, she starts in with the electric guitar, and steps up the percussion so that there is enough energy pounding through her near-screaming finale that it could make even the less-recently-dumped indignant and teary:
You were no life raft to me
I drowned in pain and misery
But you did nothing to stop me
Now you drown in your own self-pity
This is the last day of our acquaintance
I will meet you later in somebody’s office
I’ll talk but you won’t listen to me
I know your answer already.
I was originally drawn to this song by the title. I thought I ‘knew my lover’s answer already,’ but his silence kept me guessing when it should have led me to my conclusion. Referring to a love affair – especially one that lasted two years – as nothing more than an acquaintance touched me with irony, and gave my anticipatory sadness a voice. I did know his answer already, and finally had the strength to ask the question.
It’s time for me to leave and find my own life-raft in me.