As you can probably tell from the graphic, the first song I am going to look at is probably their most famous one, "Your Ex-Lover is Dead". So before I start, here have a watch of the video and a read of the lyrics...
God that was strange to see you again
Introduced by a friend of a friend
Smiled and said 'yes I think we've met before'
In that instant it started to pour,
Captured a taxi despite all the rain
We drove in silence across Pont Champlain
And all of the time you thought I was sad
I was trying to remember your name...
This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin
Tried to reach deep but you couldn't get in
Now you're outside me
You see all the beauty
Repent all your sin
It's nothing but time and a face that you lose
I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose
I'll write you a postcard
I'll send you the news
From a house down the road from real love...
Live through this, and you won't look back...
Live through this, and you won't look back...
Live through this, and you won't look back...
There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save...
-- Lyrics courtesy of AZlyrics.com
The second I heard this song I was hooked. After hearing this song, I put it on repeat, with each listen I broke down the lyrics more and more deliberately. At the risk of sounding cliche and trite, I feel that this song was sang directly to me.
This song just so genuinely captures all of the feelings of a break-up so very eloquently. So many break-up songs fall into one of two categories, the empowering ones, or the wallowing ones, this song is able to find a genuine, and very rare, mix of the two.
The repeated line of "Live through this, and you won't turn back..." expressing the suffering that the characters in the song are going through, but it contains the promise of a better time. While the earlier lines of "It's nothing but time and a face that you lose/I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose" really convey the essence of a relationship breakdown. One person falls so deeply in love, while the other person himms and haas, staying at a distance. This is such a realistic contrast to the usual "You were horrible" type lines that permeate so many songs about breaking up.
While break-ups inevitably suck, there is still a conflicting emotion, as you clearly felt something for the other person at one point or another, despite the current situation. This song does a fantastic job of mixing the empowering with the melancholy, and switching between the two with the lyrics, the tone and the pace, in a seamless manner.
This is one of those amazing songs to listen to late at night when you are thinking about someone from days past. When the song reaches it's zenith and Amy Milan's angelic voice chymes in with "I'm not sorry I met you/I'm not sorry it's over/I'm not sorry there's nothing to save", then the song is able to pass through the last step in the grieving process, acceptance as closure is finally attained.
I guess I feel that this song spoke to me so clearly, because I found it at a very crucial time in my life, when I was ready to move on. Sad and angry songs are great, but they don't ever deal with the root of the issue. I had heard this song, and the band before this crucial stage in my life but I wasn't all that into them. But it was when I heard this song at that very crucial point in my life that I became hooked. While I know that I searched out this song, I can't help but feel that it found me when I needed it the most. Oddly, this will be a very common theme this entire week.
At the point that I became enamored with this song, I was ready to finally let go of anything that I was holding onto. I was ready to just move on with my life and not let anything hold me back. This song is an integral part of a soundtrack for those brave enough to confront the gambit of emotions that go along with a break-up. If you're not ready for this song, don't worry, it will come to you when you are...
Until next time,
G
1 comment:
great post Glen. I recently found a poem that was written for me, or so I like to think. very empowering
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