Maybe i'm just plain wrong here, but my interpretation of this song is, it seems, quite different than most on here.It seems, the biggest and most argued lyrics in this song are:
"He doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you remember when you were young."
I take "Jesus" as a metaphor. I figure, Jesus is not known for looks, he is known for spirit, and heart, and sole. In the same way someone could say someone looks really dense, or looks very intelligent, or anything like that, they can't actually physically see character traits, but in saying they can "see" these traits, they are saying they can sense them. They can tell that this person isn’t too bright, or is very smart. With this interpretation, to say "he doesn't look a thing like Jesus" could mean "There is no heart or sole to be found in him" but he "talks like a gentleman."
I think what it means by "he talks like a gentleman" is that this woman is sucked in by his smooth words, and convincing attitude, to make himself seem innocent, trustworthy, and gentlemanly and most importantly, to make her forget, or look over the fact that he isn't a very good person at all. It happens all the time, whenever a guy puts on his nice guy face, and uses his smooth moves to win over a girl that shouldn't fall for it, or shouldn’t fall for it again, or knows this guy has a reputation for hurting girls, but his words pull her into his trap.
"And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live When you were young"I think this could be why she falls for his trap everytime. She wants him to be perfect, because she's being idealistic. When she was young, she saw a boy who doesn't need to be beautiful, physically, but he talked like a gentleman, because he was a gentleman. Now that she's grown, and has this terrible guy, she wants to believe that because he talks like a gentleman, he may actually be a gentleman, and so she gives him more chances.
To me, this whole thing could be something recurring. The guy messes up all the time, and the girl is mad at him for a while, and hurt, but then the guy wins her back with convincing lies of "i'll never do it again" and he does it again and again, and the girl just can't see through him like everyone else does. He has some sort of spell over her, that doesn't allow her to see the truth, that this guy does nothing but hurt her, and that she deserves better.
"You sit there in your heartache" He's just hurt her, emotionally, and now she's destroyed by it.
"Waiting on some beautiful boy" "Beautiful boy" could be another metaphor for a beautiful sole, and heart, true beauty, not aesthetics. She wants someone who's not going to harm her anymore, someone that will truly love her.
"To save you from your old ways" Her old ways, are going back to this same guy that hurts her, and falling for lies and tricks. She wants someone to love her, truly, not use her, and take her away from this guy.
"You play forgiveness" She forgives this worthless heartless guy after he smooth talks his way back to her.
"Watch it now- here he comes" And he's back at it, messing up, hurting her, messing with her head, and being forgiven, and doing it all again.
I see the singer as the narrorator, watching from the outside, and shaking his head in dissapointment, sadness, and disgust. Maybe he loves her? Maybe he's actually the "beautiful boy," but he doesn't "talk like a gentleman" and she doesn't notice him. Maybe he's just a friend who's shoulder is cried on everytime this guy hurts her, and so he's hurt by it as well, seeing her suffer. But she will never see this friend as anything more, even though he's the right one, because she is blinded by a smooth talker who's corrupted her, and used her.
I must say though, this last paragraph really biasis my whole interpretation. It's the situation i'm in, always been in, really, and i might just be trying to make it all fit. If so, i think i've made it fit quite well.