Great Lakes by Gabriel Kahane Lyrics

Beyond the spare black curtain
The candle and the glow
My friend can’t get a word in
Between the din and the show
What’s the use of hammering
With tooth and nail
What’s all gone pale
From fright?
When we’re deaf and stammering
It’s all a pose
At least our clothes
Are tight
She second guessed his gesture
His threaded bucktooth grin
She falls for men in sweatshirts
And boyish boys too thin
Then that Modern Lovers’ song
Filled up the room
They sang in tune
So proud
But that moment petered out;
She picked a fight—
So what’s that line
So what’s that line
About?