On "A Rose for Emily"

I've run across this enough times that I feel something needs to be said about it.  The first line of the Zombies' "A Rose for Emily" is "though summer is here at last."  I think that every time I've seen the lyrics written out - even in the sheet music I have of the song - it's rendered as "the summer is here at last."  And while just listening closely enough will reveal that it's actually "though," looking at the rest of the lyrics provides sufficient evidence.

The first stanza sets up the contrast between summer and loveless Emily, which the rest of the song develops.  Summer is usually seen as one of the best times of the year, but despite that fun connotation, Emily's life is sort of dismal.

She watches her flowers grow
While lovers come and go
To give each other roses from her tree
But not a rose for Emily  

Emily, can't you see there's nothing you can do
There's loving everywhere but none for you

And while much of the song talks about this by illustrating the contrast between Emily and the other lovers, it is also illustrated by the contrast in the weather:  "Though summer is here at last / The sky is overcast."  Summer is usually a time of enjoyable weather, but here "the sky is overcast."  The though indicates the opposition between the first two lines.

"The summer is here at last / The sky is overcast" does not have that opposition, and it seems choppy and contradictory.  Though signifies a subordinate clause, which improves upon both of these shortcomings.  It illustrates that the two lines are grammatically connected and intentionally opposite.

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