Songfacts®:

• This lament about a cold romance that has led to drastic measures is the first single from The Age of Adz, the ninth release by American singer-songwriter and musician Sufjan Stevens. The album's title (pronounced "Age of Odds") is a reference to the apocalyptic art of schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson (1936-1997).
• Robertson married Adele Brent in 1955 and they had eleven children. Their marriage ended after 19 years when Adele left him for another man, taking their children with her. The schism in his married life prompted Robertson to return to the art he had loved as a child. Robertson created signs, calendars, drawings and portraits filled with misogynistic messages denouncing "bad" women, and ex-wife Adele in particular. He believed that he was a victim of a global female conspiracy, that his ex-wife's betrayal would be the cause of the cataclysmic destruction of humanity, and that his art was divinely sanctioned. This song seems to describe Robertson, however Stevens could also be drawing a parallel to his own experience.