Schinckel.net

I’ve written about various songs and their meanings, or at least what I interpret them to be, several times before. I really dig songs that have real meaning, and I think about various song meanings often. Today, while washing the dishes, on came James Blunt’s Goodbye My Lover. This song has had me thinking about what it means for some time now. I’d thought, at various times, that it was about a girl who had left him, or one who had died. Now I’m not so sure. The first verse, which I’m not sure I’d actually listened to in detail before, starts with:

Did I disappoint you or let you down? Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown? ‘Cause I saw the end before we’d begun, Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won. So I took what’s mine by eternal right. Took your soul out into the night.

Which really feels like he’s been the one to end it. However, it continues with a line that sounds like she’s finished it:

It may be over but it won’t stop there, I am here for you if you’d only care.

Pretty much the rest of the song continues in this type of vein:

You touched my heart you touched my soul. You changed my life and all my goals. And love is blind and that I knew when, My heart was blinded by you. I’ve kissed your lips and held your head. Shared your dreams and shared your bed. I know you well, I know your smell. I’ve been addicted to you. Goodbye my lover. Goodbye my friend. You have been the one. You have been the one for me. I am a dreamer but when I wake, You can’t break my spirit - it’s my dreams you take. And as you move on, remember me, Remember us and all we used to be I’ve seen you cry, I’ve seen you smile. I’ve watched you sleeping for a while. I’d be the father of your child. I’d spend a lifetime with you. I know your fears and you know mine. We’ve had our doubts but now we’re fine, And I love you, I swear that’s true. I cannot live without you. Goodbye my lover. Goodbye my friend. You have been the one. You have been the one for me. And I still hold your hand in mine. In mine when I’m asleep. And I will bear my soul in time, When I’m kneeling at your feet. Goodbye my lover. Goodbye my friend. You have been the one. You have been the one for me. I’m so hollow, baby, I’m so hollow. I’m so, I’m so, I’m so hollow.

One line in particular stands out as being about someone leaving him:

I cannot live without you.

But the bit I really don’t get is:

We’ve had our doubts but now we’re fine,

Because they clearly aren’t fine. It’s over, one way or another.

Tears and Rain • James Blunt • Back to Bedlam ★★★★