If It Were True

Seeing from inside an old heartbreak

The inspiration for this song came from jazz standards.

I’ve always loved how unapologetically sad they can be.

The singer is heartbroken, the world is unfair, love has gone wrong, and nobody is trying to fix any of it.

They just stand in the middle of the feeling and sing.

The song draws heavily from old relationships and old heartbreaks, but it’s written from inside the emotional experience rather than from outside looking back.

The narrator believes every word, yet reality keeps refusing to cooperate.

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Why do people say that happiness is something that’s inside
If it were true
I wouldn’t be so blue

And I’ve heard them say that life can only be what you make it
If it were true
I wouldn’t be a fool

Lately
Something’s wrong with me
And I don’t know what I ought to do

How naive it was to think that you and I would never ever part
If it were true
Why is there someone new

Lately
Something’s
Missing and I know just what it is

Can you tell me why I thought our love would keep on goin’ strong
If it were true
I’d be there with you

Maybe
Some day far away
I can make you see how much you mean

Can you tell me why I thought we’d always be together
If it were true
Then I’d be there with you

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The person singing it isn’t interested in acceptance. They’re interested in getting what they want.

And I think that’s one of the reasons heartbreak songs have survived for so long. Because even when we know better, part of us still remembers what it feels like to want reality to be something other than it is.

The older I get, the more I appreciate songs that are willing to live inside those emotions without trying to solve them.

Songs don’t need to provide an answer. They just need to tell the truth about what it feels like to be there.

From Fabricated Worlds