Malcolm,

I agree. Not one of Chris's best efforts IMHO. For a better impression of his song re-writing talents, take a listen to what he's done with Butter and Cheese and All.

Also IMHO, I don't agree that this is a hole-in-the-ballad broken token song. IMHO yet again, I've always thought of it as someone who's tried to chat up a bird without realising it's the girl he's just jilted, and walks away feeling decidedly deflated. I also think the last two lines have been inverted somewhere aalong the line and should/originally have read.

There's many a bright and a summer's morning
Turns out to be a dark and stormy day.

Against that, I quite accept this is merely my interpretation, that it's far too easy to get far too hung up on looking for the original meanings of songs, and that if the folk read anything different into it, that's entirely up to them.