This appears to be a possible reference to the first verse of Neil Young’s 1977 song, “Winterlong”:

I waited for you, Wintering

The narrator has been waiting a long time for this girl. Not necessarily a long time in the literal sense, but something that feels like a long time. “Everlong” may also be a shortened form of the slightlly dated English expression “ever so long,” which is simply an emphatic way of saying “very long."

Karen feels fine with this split, or “straight” – that is, she is fine with her boyfriend leaving. But then the struggle comes… and we start to understand more about who this song is about.

The song is about the relationship between Liars frontman Angus Andrew and Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O.

M.A.P.S is speculated, but not confirmed, to be an acronym for “My Angus Please Stay”.

More literally “maps” is symbolic of her lover’s constant traveling, the maps being the thing that leads him away from her. It’s a simple, heartfelt plea: whatever he may find on the road will never love him the way she does. As Angus Andrews is a fellow musician, she may also be telling him that all the things the rock star life may bring him – fame, money, attention, adoring fans – will never truly love him back.

A man must snap out of his delusion of how it would feel to be single in order to realize that when he’s single, he has no one because he let the one person that held him down go.

These lines also portray a grasp of music that the narrator is trying to use to woo his jaded and unimpressed lover who “[doesn’t] really care for music.”

It is clever the way that not only the chords line up in the lyrics and in the music, but also because the connotations themselves of “major” and “minor” add to the meaning of the song. The “fourth” is a major chord based on the fourth of the key Buckley is playing in. Likewise the fifth is the major chord based on the fifth tone of the key. The “Minor Fall” corresponds to Buckley playing a minor chord based on the sixth of the key. “Major Lift” corresponds to playing the major chord on the fourth again.

The narrator has a lot of knowledge (a bag of tricks) that he can call upon like spells that should impress, yet don’t. It should be noted that Jeff Buckley’s command of his voice is central to this version. There is an irony to his voice being able to immediately impress us, his audience, but not the person to whom he is speaking.

“I moved in you” can be a sexual reference: a description of a physical act. Sex is often referred to with religious metaphors.

It was so intense that the holy dove, referring to the Spirit, moved also. It was a fervent joining of spirits as well as flesh. The dove also represents peace, tranquility, beauty, love and could stand for the intimacy and purity of their relationship.

‘Every breath we drew was hallelujah’ – they were basking in the joy of their love and proclaiming it’s beauty to the divine. Every single moment, or breath, when they were in a good stage was an ecstatic and sublime moment.

He is reflecting on when there was chemistry and powerful emotions, recalling the memories of the happy times of their love, when the sex between the two lovers was new and almost holy and their relationship was working well in the sexual and emotional aspect.