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.
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.