Lyrics Dissection Tuesday: The Only Exception by Paramore

+

J.M.J.

Lyrics

When I was younger

I saw my daddy cry

And curse at the wind

He broke his own heart

And I watched

As he tried to reassemble it

I'm not sure why her dad was cursing at the wind. Maybe he hated it. (I don't condone cursing). How do you break your own heart? By living selfishly maybe? We cannot put our hearts back together by ourselves.

And my momma swore

That she would never let herself forget

And that was the day that I promised

I'd never sing of love

If it does not exist, but darlin'

So their was a mom in the picture too. Did she break the dad's heart? I can relate to the artist in the next part; I would feel like a hypocrite singing about love if it wasn't real. My heart wouldn't be in it.

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

Obviously, this girl has found someone (or he has found her) that loves her.

Maybe I know, somewhere

Deep in my soul

That love never lasts

And we've got to find other ways

To make it alone

But keep a straight face

Love does last, as it happens. I think what she's talking about here is that the feeling of love isn't indefinitely sustainable. What other ways do we find to make it on our own? Some of them are coping mechanisms, while others are simply selfish ways of living. Keeping a straight face is something I'm really good at. It's convenient for hiding my true feelings. 

And I've always lived like this

Keeping a comfortable, distance

And up until now

I had sworn to myself that I'm content

With loneliness

Again, I find that this song speaks to me on so many levels. Keeping apart from loved ones is the most surefire way to keep yourself safe from being hurt. All the same, as the artist says, it makes her lonely. We can make ourselves perfectly fine with feeling this way. Some of us always feel this way. It becomes a rut. 

Because none of it was ever worth the risk

Sometimes, love isn't worth taking the risk. But you don't know that, unfortunately, until you try.

But, you are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

I've got a tight grip on reality

But I can't let go of what's in front of me here

I know your leaving in the morning, when you wake up

Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, oh

I don't think this woman actually has an accurate perception of reality at this part of the song. She's desperately hanging on to the man that she loves, both literally and figuratively. She's got to let go, at least temporarily. 

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

You are, the only exception

And I'm on my way to believing

Oh, and I'm on my way to believing.

Guess what? I'm on my way to believing too. I had been losing hope. Amazing what God can do for you when you feel like there's no other way to find true happiness than what you've been trying for years.

God bless you!

Stephanie

Lyrics: Google