It was the darkest day
I could tell from the moment you spoke my name
Said in your miserable way
Every year you come to regret it
We've colored in the lines
And followed all the signs
Fought a war til the war was over (colored in the lines)
Said you'd never be the kind with an ordinary life
Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart
Heart (x3)
Look at the mess we made
Now we stop and say what we always say
And then you make the great escape
Every year you'll come to regret it
We've colored in the lines
And followed all the signs
Fought a war til the war was over (colored in the lines)
Said you'd never be the kind with an ordinary life
Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart
And everything we have
You think that it's a trap
We fought the war now the war is over (followed all the signs)
Said you knew what you would find
Just an ordinary life
Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart
Heart (x3)
This song displays Guster's tendency to contrast melancholy lyrics with upbeat instrumentation. Two people fell in love at a young age. As the excitement and possibility of youth waned, one remained content with a day-to-day life of routine and mediocrity rooted in comfortable love. The other grew discontent and "escaped" in search of the exceptional. Blissful contentment meets mortal awareness.
Here's the scenario as I see it:
I picture a phone conversation between a man and his ex-wife of several years.
The woman initiated the divorce process (the "war") for reasons the above commenter nicely described -- to escape "an ordinary life" in pursuit of her dream of something extraordinary.
She broke the man's heart, saying that everything they had was just a trap or cage that held her back from reaching her full potential.
Here's the scenario as I see it:
I picture a phone conversation between a man and his ex-wife of several years.
The woman initiated the divorce process (the "war") for reasons the above commenter nicely described -- to escape "an ordinary life" in pursuit of her dream of something extraordinary.
She broke the man's heart, saying that everything they had was just a trap or cage that held her back from reaching her full potential.
As the years progressed, however, the extraordinary life she had hoped for never materialized, and the fears of mediocrity that had...
As the years progressed, however, the extraordinary life she had hoped for never materialized, and the fears of mediocrity that had fueled her "great escape" had come true anyway.
Disillusioned and disheartened, she calls her ex-husband saying, miserably,
"With every year I come to regret it" (the divorce)
With no desire to reunite with the person that shattered his heart, he simply responds, with some bitter satisfaction:
"Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart."
As in, see how it feels when your hopes for the future are crushed? Maybe now you understand that's what you did to me.
I think it really brings out the sharp edge of the title line when I see the scene that way.
Correct lyrics:
It was the darkest day I could tell from the moment you spoke my name Said in your miserable way Every year you come to regret it
We've colored in the lines And followed all the signs Fought a war til the war was over (colored in the lines) Said you'd never be the kind with an ordinary life Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart
Heart (x3)
Look at the mess we made Now we stop and say what we always say And then you make the great escape Every year you'll come to regret it
We've colored in the lines And followed all the signs Fought a war til the war was over (colored in the lines) Said you'd never be the kind with an ordinary life Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart
And everything we have You think that it's a trap We fought the war now the war is over (followed all the signs) Said you knew what you would find Just an ordinary life Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart
Heart (x3)
This song displays Guster's tendency to contrast melancholy lyrics with upbeat instrumentation. Two people fell in love at a young age. As the excitement and possibility of youth waned, one remained content with a day-to-day life of routine and mediocrity rooted in comfortable love. The other grew discontent and "escaped" in search of the exceptional. Blissful contentment meets mortal awareness.
Here's the scenario as I see it: I picture a phone conversation between a man and his ex-wife of several years. The woman initiated the divorce process (the "war") for reasons the above commenter nicely described -- to escape "an ordinary life" in pursuit of her dream of something extraordinary. She broke the man's heart, saying that everything they had was just a trap or cage that held her back from reaching her full potential.
Here's the scenario as I see it: I picture a phone conversation between a man and his ex-wife of several years. The woman initiated the divorce process (the "war") for reasons the above commenter nicely described -- to escape "an ordinary life" in pursuit of her dream of something extraordinary. She broke the man's heart, saying that everything they had was just a trap or cage that held her back from reaching her full potential.
As the years progressed, however, the extraordinary life she had hoped for never materialized, and the fears of mediocrity that had...
As the years progressed, however, the extraordinary life she had hoped for never materialized, and the fears of mediocrity that had fueled her "great escape" had come true anyway.
Disillusioned and disheartened, she calls her ex-husband saying, miserably, "With every year I come to regret it" (the divorce)
With no desire to reunite with the person that shattered his heart, he simply responds, with some bitter satisfaction: "Now this is how it feels to have a broken heart." As in, see how it feels when your hopes for the future are crushed? Maybe now you understand that's what you did to me.
I think it really brings out the sharp edge of the title line when I see the scene that way.