Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken

This song isn't a snub at Lloyd Cole, it's a tribute to him. Camera Obscura are Scottish as is Lloyd and Traceyanne Campbell is a fan of his. Lloyd currently lives in Massachusetts and he tried to take his family to see Camera Obscura in concert, but couldn't because his son is underaged. When Camera Obscura heard about the incident, they wrote this song. This was explained before the video that jeisenbe mentioned was played on Subterranean on MTV2.

She's lost all sight of everything, because she's in love.

I was ready to be heartbroken once. And I was. I still am.

I downloaded this song paired with "I Can't Stay Mad at You", the perfect complement.

jesuisbien, i'm not sure i agree with you. i do think it's a cole reference--how could it not be?--but i think the line "I can't see further than my own nose at this moment" is an idiomatic expression for not thinking about the longterm when making a decision, instead of anything to do with pretension or snobbery. i think in fact this song is the opposite of that; it's about being both giddy and blunt in the face of a new opportunity. it's about throwing yourself into it head first. not looking further into the future than your own nose. i second the questions about the video--maybe there is a critque there--she is definitely a stark contrast to the giddiness the song, and the dancers, suggest.

love it.

I thought it was, "you can't stand guard while holding a boy's hand" (standing guard as in keeping your defenses up, not letting yourself get hurt, etc.), which I preferred.

This is the song I'm listening to for moral support right now. I like a boy. He might like me back, I have no idea. He asked for my number, but is being awfully slow calling me. My friends have all told me just to bite the bullet and ask him out myself. I think I just might. I'm so scared of being rejected, but whenever I'm around him, I feel like instantly bold and do and say things I never thought I would. I guess I'm ready to put myself out there and take a risk in the name of romance, which is what I think this song is about.

This one actually kinda burned me a little.

What sort of act would place a woman in the position of not being able to see past her own nose? Yeah... probably the worst possible way to end a relationship. sux :'(

The sound is very joyful and carefree, but I hear some sadness, a touch of emptiness underneath - maybe out of mockery towards the truly broken one?

Then again, that's just one perspective out of many.

It's "You can't stand out while holding a boy's hand"

The girl wants to move on. She doesn't want to be stuck to the same guy although he's obviously still in love with her. If he's still seen/involved with her, no guy would want her.

"Cause I can't see further than my own nose at this moment" She wants to explore and experience what love has to offer; she's being selfish for her own sake and happiness.

She's willing to get hurt just to be in love.

Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken is the answer song to Lloyd Cole’s 1984 “Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?”. Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken is a loving, bittersweet tribute between two Scottish artists who are mutual fans.

Through interacting with Lloyd Cole’s song, Camera Obscura superimposes the unfortunate ‘didn’t-happen’ concert viewing (thank you Finster_17 for providing that context) onto this fictional ‘doomed youth romance’ narrative within the lyrics of the song. Lloyd Cole is both the loved artist who the band is paying tribute to and a fictional love interest/figure in the song. I will be referring to the artist as Lloyd Cole and the love interest as Lloyd.

Camera Obscura takes the youthful cynicism of Lloyd Cole in “Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?” and juxtaposes it with an opposite but equally angsty perspective, still about being rash and in love, but instead able to see that staying stagnant and naïve hurts more than being “heartbroken”. Its as if Lloyd Cole was asking ‘are you ready to face the world?’ as a way to delay the inevitable pain, and Camera Obscura is responding ‘I want it now, because waiting for the day Lloyd doesn’t show up hurts more…’

The song revolves around expectations and anticipating an inevitable change that will happen to the relationship between the singer’s character and Lloyd. There are many allusions to the interaction between Lloyd Cole and Camera Obscura in the way the relationship between Lloyd and the singer is written about (mostly in emotion). In the booklet that accompanies the CD, it is written that the contested line in verse two reads “you can stay a girl by holding a boy’s hand”, this is about the singer’s conflicted self-reflections for wanting to stay ‘blind’ to the fact that change is inevitable between two people.

Lastly, in the music video, I think it’s referencing Lloyd Cole’s era through the neon and pastel visuals, while the two dancers are supposed to represent the blissful lovers (Lloyd and the Singer). As for Tracyenne Campbell’s performance in the video I think it’s more pensive than disinterested, like she is perhaps anxious or disappointed.

This is by no means a line-by-line dissection of every theme and reference I’ve presented here, but I’m sure this is enough to show the layers within the two songs, two artists and many stories attached to it.

This is some kind of response/reference to Lloyd Cole's "Are Your Ready to Be Heartbroken?". Though I'm not sure what kind.

i'm a new fan of camera obscura--this is the one that got me. but wow i cannot believe how good this album is! holy schnikies!