Michael Stipe has described this song as one of bitter betrayal. Does “a simple prop to occupy my time” sound romantic to you?
At least the music’s catchy.
Snooooopy: I’ve always understood the line “A simple prop to occupy my time” as a reference to finding something to distract himself from missing his partner. Anyone who’s spent weeks at a time away from their lover knows about that.
Maybe I’ve misunderstood these lyrics all these years. Either way, I prefer my interpretation.
OK, smarty-pants poetry expert 
— how do you explain “Fiii-iiiiiiiiiiire!” Are you distracting yourself by setting fires?
No, seriously, that’s a pretty neat interpretation you’ve come up with. I don’t think I ever would have thought of it in that way.
Walk This Way - Aerosmith
Fire is passion.
One More Minute by “Weird Al” Yankovic.
(Kidding! Just kidding! I’m a kidder – I kid.)
Actually, it’s All of Me sung by Dinah Washington. Whenever we hear it, we stop and dance. This has caused some bemused looks in record stores.
Well, as I stated in the OP, I thought our song was Tom Petty’s “here comes my girl”. Unfortunately my wife just informed me she hates that song. Quelle dommage!