Breakable

First off, just because she is female and plays the piano, does not mean she is similar to regina spektor.

ok, I think this sond can have 1 of 2 meanings.

First (and in my mind, most probable): The first verse has both a literal and a metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning that we are fragile people and can easily be physically be broken or even die. The metaphorical meaning that we don't have a lot of physical or emotional armor to protect our hearts from being hurt and it doesnt take much to stop ones heart from beating for someone else or confessing their love for someone else.

The second verse has a man and a women in vehicle, the passenger being the one who was physically broken and the driver being the one who was metaphorically broken. The driver buckles the passengers seatbelt, symbolizing that he/she is protective of the other and wants to make sure that nothing happens to him/her. The reference to the two-ton death trap I feel is how the passenger feels about vehicles now...assuming that he/she was physically broken in an accident - perhaps while with someone else (a lover, friend, or family member), perhaps because of a bad decision (alcohol or drugs). It is after the seatbelt is buckled that the passenger sees the "piece of love" on the drivers face and realizes that the protective nature stems from deeper feelings for him/her. He/she is then "bathed in regret" for not noticing this before and because of how things have turned out - perhaps a friend or family member was killed in the accident or the passenger is permanently broken in some way (either physically or mentally) or both - and because of the tragedy, the drivers heart, which is "the muscle that confesses" is "stopped" from ever letting those feelings out.

So, therefore, the "breakable girls and boys" is both literal and metaphorical - as both of them are broken in some way and they can no longer have what might have been.

The second thought involves no accident. It takes on the more metaphorical sense and describes, similar to above, that it doesn't take much for a heart to break or hold back. The second verse, similar to above as well, has the passenger realizing that through the kindness and caring, the driver has always loved him/her. He/she is then bathed in regret for not having known or for not having taken the opportunity in the past. perhaps its way in the future and they both have families or something. In this version, I can't explain the "two-ton death trap". Maybe its another metaphor for an inescapable place where the false pretenses the passenger has been living under come crumbling down and die to the reality that is right on the drivers face.

Anyways, that's what I think. I love this song. And I'm going to see Ingrid next Wednesay here in St. Louis!!!!! :)