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When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads.
Then love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect runs so dry.
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives.
But love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
You cry out in your sleep,
All my failings exposed.
And there's a taste in my mouth,
As desperation takes hold.
Just that something so good just can't function no more.
But love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads.
Then love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect runs so dry.
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives.
But love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
You cry out in your sleep,
All my failings exposed.
And there's a taste in my mouth,
As desperation takes hold.
Just that something so good just can't function no more.
But love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
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I see a lot of people trying to find this deep hidden meaning when in reality the lyrics are very literal. And anyone who has found themselves in a long relationship can at least relate to one specific line in this song. I myself can relate to much of it.
The best explanation so far was submitted by lmn on July 10, 2011. It's often the simplest answer that is the best answer. Especially for such a simple song. Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful song but it's very simple by design. Less is more ;)
When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads.
(This is talking about how bad their relationship is and how they don't make each other happy anymore but that doesn't mean they could be without)
Then love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
(the fact he says "then" suggests he is saying that when they lose all hope and think they can't possibly love each other if they're this unhappy then they get reminded how much they need each other when their feelings fuck them up)
Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect runs so dry.
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives.
(This is a clever bit, the first line is saying how they although they still have sex because of all the passion they have she has turned away on her side from him and no longer cuddles and talks with him after it anymore she just turns away from him because she's probably still angry at him. The second and third line are him questioning maybe it is his fault but then he thinks that they just have so little respect for each other now due to how much they argue and hurt each other. The last two lines of this verse are him speaking about how regardless of all this, they both still want to be together)
But love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
(He knows they'll both get hurt again)
You cry out in your sleep,
All my failings exposed.
And there's a taste in my mouth,
As desperation takes hold.
Just that something so good just can't function no more.
(The first line: Her dreams are even haunting her she's so depressed but it shows how he can' sleep and still watches her sleep like a lot of couples do when in love.
The second line: He knows he's let her down and failed her and doesn't want her to feel this way.
The third/fourth line: He just wants to wake her up and just beg for it to work because its all he wants
The fifth line: speaks for itself, its just not working and he's aware of that but he just can't let go)
But love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
At first, the more intimate lyrics seemed irreconcilable for such an interpretation, until I presumed, as friends in an 'it's complicated' sort of situation tend to do, some form of sexual relationship of a casual nature emerges - and that won't do, either. The feelings run too deep, and there's really no middle road. Damned if you do - and if you don't.
In the end, irony of ironies, it was love that tore them apart. Again.
Any fellow fans of BSG (Battlestar Galactica) would see this sort of thing playing out pretty clearly between Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace and Lee 'Apollo' Adama. A great, close friendship torn apart by the intensity introduced by love that neither could ever seem to handle at the same time. ('Is my timing that flawed?')
Alas, only my musings on one of the quirkier songs of the era.
here is my interpretation of the song:
When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
When resentment rides high
But emotions won’t grow.
And we’re changing our ways, taking different roads.
He states that their relationship is starting to become a drag and it is no longer fun anymore. The longer they are with each other, the more their feelings fade into ones of hatred. Curtis is starting to develop a life outside of his relationship and thinks that the two of them have started to grow apart.
Love, love will tear us apart, again.
A pessimistic view that although they are in love with each other it’s not enough to keep them together, and in fact it might be because they love each other they need to break up. They love each other so much that they’ve realised everything wrong with one other.
Why is this bedroom so cold?
You’ve turned away on your side.
Is my timing that’s flawed?
Or our respect run so dry.
Yet there’s still this appeal, that we’ve kept through our lives.
When they sleep with each other in the night they sleep at opposite sides of the bed as they feel no physical attraction to each other anymore. He starts to question if he is in the wrong but then thinks maybe they just don’t respect one another so can’t love someone they don’t have respect for. However, he acknowledges the fact that there will always be an attraction between the two of them that will never fade.
Do you cry out in your sleep?
All my failings exposed.
There’s a taste in my mouth
As desperation takes hold
Is this something so good? That we just can’t function no more.
He’s realised that she’s unhappy and blames himself for it. He hastily tries to make a last ditch effort to salvage the relationship. But soon concludes that maybe they will never be able to make it work as they no longer work together.