this is a complicated one. there are a lot of thoughts and general ideas that seem to have the same feel to me, and work together. as far as the perspective it's written from changes depending on the verse and even sometimes the line.

in the opening i'm just expressing the fact that we have all been deluded by our own idea of another person in the beginning of a relationship (maybe all this time i been thinkin of you all wrong - couldn't see the picture for the frame i was too busy hangin on) maybe we wanted the other person to be someone they aren't, or to treat us right or have more serious intentions for the relationship and it turns out they really don't, and even if they had been right for you they weren't serious about you anyway and were never going to be.

it also contains pieces of feelings or thoughts that occurred in me during different relationships and there are aspects of multiple people in certain facets of this song.

due to those things the interpretation is very open, but the chorus was inspired by someone who told me they loved me before they really knew me

to me when someone says i love you too early, before they even know who they are really saying it to, it can sometimes be more about themselves or the idea they have of the other person than an expression of truth

he turned to me and said "i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you" and in that moment i heard "love me love me love me love me love me" and it felt less like a profession of love than a desire to be loved, no matter who i turned out to be.

part of the song talks about that and part talks about the fact that some people will take you out, ask you about your dreams, etc. but it doesn't really mean anything and you can't know if it does or not for a while.

they may hurt you, and they may change you through the kind of crucible that an emotional entanglement fettered by dishonesty, either intentional or not, can be. (can't find me in the grave you made, tortured me into someone else)

part also refers to the tendency for people to go out and seek comfort in brief and simple physical acts of closeness and intimacy. maybe one or both parties long for something more (lookin for somebody who's tryin to find me) but only time will tell if the connection will work out or grow into something deeper

there's also a feeling of the self being unsuitable or being potentially damaging to someone else in the period of emotional upheaval and search for balance that often comes after a newly ended relationship. It is sometimes hard to resist the temptation to lose yourself in another relationship immediately after being dropped by someone but it is many times for the best to become centered and reacquainted with who you are or were before that person and who you are now. to know yourself and honestly examine your own motivations, in my opinion, enhances your capacity to give love or know what you want from a partner.

a proper discussion would really take it line by line but i've already said so much and think people should come up with their own interpretation of it and hopefully use it to think through some of these issues and be left with the feeling i try to convey in the final portion.

that is to shut out someone who has proven themselves to be unwilling or unable to provide healthy love without conditions or distortions, and not to be lured back into an old relationship by that person trying to speak or act out a part that they think will draw you in but you know in your heart is not genuine to them.