Safe from 18/19 by RJT

Written in October of 1998, "Safe" mashes together two romantic entanglements, separated by about a year. The first two verses deal with the then current relationship, a brief but sweet autumn fling, the memory of which I still hold dear. The third verse reflects back on the other, earlier romance, and the "Jack and Jill" section is less metaphorical than one might think, as an actual hill was involved. Like many of my songs at the time, pronouns get switched around a bit in an attempt to confuse the true meaning, but since the song's refrain is "keep you safe from me" I don't think there's any great mystery about who is doing what to whom. When I would play this song live, I would tag a verse from Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" onto the coda, so even at the age of 19 I was well aware who was ultimately responsible for the demise of my relationships.