| Sara Bareilles – Between the Lines Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Don't want to step on anyone's toes above, but this song has very specific meaning, and those who have been involved with a married person would definitely understand: In the song, she's in love with a married man who claims he loves her as well. The relationship is closeted because he's married, but he keeps on promising her that he's trying to leave his spouse. "to burden your mouth with what you say, no pieces of paper in the way" is her saying that it's time to stop with the excuses . . . with the primary excuse that a marriage certificate (or divorce papers -- take your choice) are the "pieces of paper in the way" that he keeps giving as an excuse for keeping their relationship a secret. "when loving you later is if at all" refers to the fact that she can't keep playing this game where the start of their "official" relationship keeps getting pushed back with his excuses. The second verse is her reflection to the moment when she realized that their relationship was ending. "Until now, he told me her name" refers NOT to the fact that it was the first time she heard her lover's wife's name; but rather (at the moment of realization), and it was first time she REALLY listened and understood. "I could have sworn I'd heard him say it ten thousand times" is about the fact that he HAD actually talked about his wife, but she totally ignored it in the past because she refused to face that reality -- which really gets at the heart of the chorus . . . "leave unsaid unspoken, eyes wide shut unopened." Sometimes when people are in love they display this willful (and potentially harmful) ignorance. Again, if you've been in a relationship with a married person you might understand. "move from the shadows on the wall, and stand in the center of it all" was her hope that her lover would leave his wife and that they would become official, instead of illicit. (Believe me, it SUCKS to be in an illicit relationship--always being secretive makes you constantly feel like you're doing something wrong.) "He already left with the other" refers to him chosing the choice "to stay" with his wife . . . leaving her with the other choice: "to leave." At which point the heartbreak happened and she's learned to listen to those non-verbal queues in a relationship that tell you something's wrong. "Wait for me, I'm almost ready" refers to the time-after-time-again promises that he is planning on leaving his wife for her. In retrospect, she's realized that while he was saying those words, he was really signaling for her to "Let go." ------- Side note: The guy in the song is likely not a complete a$s-hole. He was also stuck in the middle of two genuine loves (or maybe had kids with his current wife and it further complicated the issue). From my view, the "guy" in this song could have potentially written an equally powerful song that expresses the heartbreak he feels being caught between the love that he has (his wife) and the love that he wants (his lover). |
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