This song is about that really horrible, crushing feeling you get when someone you never thought was going to leave you ends up dumping you. You actually feel briefly paralyzed by emotion, which is what I believe the lyrics are hinting at-- the feeling of being so heartbroken your heart literally aches in your chest, like some sort of sick heart attack. The singer knows that she's actually going to be okay eventually, but for right now, it seems so horrific that she's removed herself from her own mind.
The lyrics go on to describe a typical breakup (having to move out and pick up your things from the parking lot, still feeling attached to the other person but knowing that in time they'll stop looking at you with adoration), but also have an existential hint to them-- "is it really safe to say that we were made this way, made to brave the pain?". The singer is questioning whether human beings were meant to endure these kinds of emotions, or if they were meant to love each other at all. Even though the phrase "like a rubbernecker's gaze" is meant to be used as a simile, I feel as though it's also a literal statement about how when people break up, everyone seems to stop and stare at the spectacle.
The song is really powerful and in my honest opinion, accurately describes the feeling of losing someone who's given up on your relationship.
This song is about that really horrible, crushing feeling you get when someone you never thought was going to leave you ends up dumping you. You actually feel briefly paralyzed by emotion, which is what I believe the lyrics are hinting at-- the feeling of being so heartbroken your heart literally aches in your chest, like some sort of sick heart attack. The singer knows that she's actually going to be okay eventually, but for right now, it seems so horrific that she's removed herself from her own mind.
The lyrics go on to describe a typical breakup (having to move out and pick up your things from the parking lot, still feeling attached to the other person but knowing that in time they'll stop looking at you with adoration), but also have an existential hint to them-- "is it really safe to say that we were made this way, made to brave the pain?". The singer is questioning whether human beings were meant to endure these kinds of emotions, or if they were meant to love each other at all. Even though the phrase "like a rubbernecker's gaze" is meant to be used as a simile, I feel as though it's also a literal statement about how when people break up, everyone seems to stop and stare at the spectacle.
The song is really powerful and in my honest opinion, accurately describes the feeling of losing someone who's given up on your relationship.