OK, I promise I have checked previous threads on this song and can only find lyric discussions rather than meanings so please be gentle with me if there is and existing single post out there dealing with this.

I heard once that this song was not about a girl singing a warning to her true love about her protective parents but that it was about the sinister threat from within her walls, i.e. her father. I'd love to know what you think. To help out, its worth putting in the relevant verse of the version I'm familiar with as other versions may be more clear cut...

My father is a handsome devil
He wears a chain five miles long
And on each link a young heart dangles
Of every girl he's loved and wronged

Thanks for your expert opinions...