My InterpretationMy interpretation of this is that of a father watching his daughter's courtship and marriage to a jewish man. I think this may be the most straightforward song in the album. I still recall when I first held / Your tiny hand in mine / I loved you more than I can tell / But now it's stomping time: pretty straightforward: the narrator remembers the first time he held his lover's hand, he regards the memory sweetly, but now it's time to stomp his rival into the ground, haha.
![riva riva song meaning riva riva song meaning](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wpB3fZhHCwM/maxresdefault.jpg)
The chorus is also pretty straightforward.
![riva riva song meaning riva riva song meaning](https://projecthumanities.asu.edu/sites/default/files/asuphsi_-_conversation_with_riva_yares_and_gallery_expedition-48.jpg)
The third stanza is pretty straightforward: the narrator ends it by mentioning 2 undesirable features of the man: the narrator probably sees himself as more physically attractive than his rival. I struck a match against the door / Of Anthony's Bar and Grill / I was the whining stranger / A fool in love / With time to kill: This may be the biggest giveaway of the lyrical intention if "match" is read as synonymous with "rival" (as in 'you've met your match'), the narrator may be explaining in this stanza how he happened upon hie lovers cheat-partner: they were both at Anthony's and the rival is near the door: the narrator describes himself as "whining", possibly alluding to one reason his rival is seen as desirable: he has a deeper voice ?ģ. The wind was driving in my face / The smell of prickly pear / The mild truck eased into my space / Somebody screamed somewhere: The narrator was probably driving a convertible: smelling pricky pear because that is common in southern California: followed the (undercover-spy) milk truck to his home and, from some arbitrary distance, he watched it pull into his usual parking space 'someone screaming somewhere' is just a random fact: if you're out in the open air, many times you will hear a random sounds: children screaming perhaps.Ģ. With this song, I agree with underbanyantrees. As with most things, the simplest explanation most-probably explains Walter & Donald's intention.