How We End Up Alone

First, I want to say, I cannot WAIT for The Crux to come out! If this song (along with Adonai) are indications of the quality, it will be another amazing album.

Now, this song is the ULTIMATE break up song. A lot of Hurt's relationship songs seem to be written from the perspective of a failing relationship rather than a failed one (the lone exception being Ten Ton Brick and possibly Overdose, if you interpret it that way), so this is a good change up.

On to the song.

There's no more use in lying Yeah, there's no more use in lying To tell the truth I don't care what you'll do There's no more use in lying

-This to me says that there is no more use in lying about how she feels about him or the relationship. This could also be from his perspective, about how he feels about her or the relationship. He tells her he doesn't care what she does or says, so quit trying to lie about it and make it sound better than it is.

There's no more use in trying When there's no more use denying I gave you the proof I don't care what you'll do

-He's given up. He doesn't want to try to make it work anymore. He's done denying it. He gave her all the proof that he's good for her and they CAN make it work, but she doesn't buy into it, so he stops caring.

We act in bitterness and then we scream our very souls free I would react but then my mask would slip and you'd see me I hate him, you love me Together we are nothing I'm fucking scared to be alone

-The frustration of the relationship has them both bitter, so they argue more. He would react to her, and give her what's she wants (a reaction) but she would see how hurt he is. He's putting up the facade that he doesn't give a shit, when he still does. The "I hate him, you love me" line is tough. It could be that he's saying what she's thinking. It could be that she has another man, he hates him, and he's saying that she loves him (meaning the speaker). I go with the latter, but the aforementioned works too. Together, they're nothing. There is no relationship left. However, he's "fucking scared to be alone." She's all he's got.

Then you'll see from my way Because you will see from my way That's how we end up alone

-Pretty obvious. He is telling her she will see this from his perspective. The "that's how we end up alone" line is indicative that, once she does, she will see how they ended up apart and alone.

There's no more use in trying There was no more use denying If you paid your dues I don't care it just proves That's how we end up alone

-Repetitive first half here. Already explained, he's given up. He goes on to say that if she makes it up to him, he doesn't care, it just proves that she only did it once she saw what he saw and looked at it all from his perspective.

There was no more use in crying If there's no more use in hiding You do what you do I don't care it just proves.

-Here he tells her that crying over it is pointless if they're no longer hiding their true feelings. He tells her to do whatever it is she wants, and no matter what that is, it just proves how things came to be. Either she didn't care and doesn't want to be with him, or she, again, saw it all from his perspective.

Nobody seems to care Cause nobody's ever here Nobody wants to listen Cause nobody's even there So we end up alone

-Pretty obvious that he is saying he has nobody to talk to about this. Nobody is there in his life to listen. So, he's alone.

If you fear for my way, Well then, you'd see it from my way Cause when you see it from my way Well then, you see it from my way

-The first line goes back to that first breakdown where he says "I'm fucking scared to be alone." If she fears being alone like he does, well then, she'd see how he feels.

You will see it from my way Because you will see things my way I gave her my youth just to make me the proof That's how we end up alone That's how we end up alone

-He gave her a large chunk of his young life. He did this devotedly as proof of how much he cares for her, to make himself the proof that the relationship can work. In doing that, he met nobody along the way to get close to. So, that's how he ended up alone.

Because no one seems to care Because no one is ever there.

-Again, he has nobody else. Nobody cares because nobody is there. I tend to tie this to Ten Ton Brick and the reference there to the poem Twa Corbies "nobody feels what nobody knows."

This song means a lot to me right now, as do most of Hurt's songs. My girlfriend of 5 years just left me, so there could be some bias in the way I interpret it. However, I think I pretty much nailed it. I mean...it is a pretty obvious song.