On the surface, the chorus is pretty straight-forward: his lover is just out of reach, far away in a different place where Sam can’t take care of him. He longs to, once again, lie next to the man he loves.
But there’s a subtext of yearning for death. The music video starts with his man’s funeral, where everyone is wearing black, but then it suddenly transitions to a celebration where the couple is together, holding hands, surrounded by guests wearing white.
This could be a interpreted as a flashback to their wedding, fond memories of being together. But it could also be the possibility of being united after death, in heaven, surrounded by joy. When Sam asks “Can I lay by your side?” he wants to join his lover in death so they can finally be together again.
He doesn’t want to be here, alive, on earth, if he can’t be with the man he loves.