Written by Tom Bahler, this song brought out one of the most emotional performances from the greatest entertainer who ever lived. A few days ago was the one year anniversary of Michael Jackson's passing. He is sorely missed.
Lyrics/Structure
She's out of my life
She's out of my life
and I don't know whether to laugh or cry
How he feels about her being out of his life.
I don't whether to live or die
How he feels about her being out of his life
and it cuts like a knife
How he feels about her being out of his life. The point is that the whole verse is about one thing: how he feels about her being out of his life. He doesn't start telling us the story of what happened just yet.
She's out of my life
It's out of my hands
It's out of my hands
There's nothing that he can do about the fact that she's out of his life.
To think for two years she was here
And I took her for granted I was so cavalier
Now we get some facts about the story that has brought him to this moment, but note that that is what this whole verse is about. She's out of his hands because for two years he took her for granted. Can you put the whole idea of one of your verses into a single sentence?
Now the way that it stands
She's out of my hands
So I've learned
That love's in our possession
And I've learned that love won't wait
Now I've learned that love needs expression
But I learned too late
What he has learned from his experience. The tragedy here is, of course, that he has learned these things too late. Note that he doesn't try to save the relationship in this song. That would expand the song into an epic drama or else compromise the integrity of this song. The single, main idea is that he has lost her and there is nothing to be done about it. This is one moment in time. Maybe there is a whole other song that can be written to follow this one about getting the girl back or starting a new love with somebody.
She's out of my life
She's out of my life
Damn indecision
and cursed pride
I kept my love locked deep inside
We are still in the one moment of this song's regret. This verse expounds on the blame that the singer puts on himself.
and it cuts like a knife
She's out of my life
What's the magic here? Is it the music and how the bridge and each verse so inevitably cadence to the beginning of the next verse? Maybe. Is it the memorable yet sophisticated melody? Maybe. Is it the lyrical idea that tightly knits the whole song together? I think so.
Beginning with a bird's eye view of the song, here's the flow of lyrical ideas:
Verse 1 - How the singer feels
Verse 2 - How it happened
Bridge - The lessoned that was learned too late
Verse 3 - A vulnerable confession of his own faults that led to his loss.
These may seem like very different topics, but note that they are all very much focused on one idea: the idea that "she's out of my life." This should help us think about how much there is to say about one situation.
Each verse ends with the same lyrics it opens with. Think about those essays you were taught to write in school. They were supposed to have an opening statement that is supported with details and then summed up in a concluding sentence, and each paragraph should serve to support the thesis of the whole essay. The same idea can be applied to songwriting with the verses as the paragraphs and the chorus or hook line as the thesis. This song is a perfect example of that kind of tight construction. Apply this way of thought to the rest of the verses and see what insights you can come up with.
Melody
The melody of this song is untypical of most modern pop songs. The melody of each verse in this song is a long line that only gets repeated when the next verse comes around. There is no catchy riff that gets repeated many times within the verse, which is what most modern pop song verses are built on. The sophisticated melody line that carries us on a journey through each new verse is like the great melodies of old that Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and others made famous written by the likes of Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and Kurt Weil.
Notice that the first line of each verse is sung twice. The same words sung the second time can be heightened emotionally by singing them with a new melody line. In this case, the melody goes higher for the second line, and as a rule of thumb, emotion is heightened when the notes go upwards. Try it!
The rest of the lines of each verse come in pairs as well.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry
I don't know whether to live or die
When you listen to these lines, try to feel how the second line answers the first line in a musical and lyrical sense. It's like they really go together. And also for the last two lines of each verse, listen to how they not only answer each other but complete the whole verse.
and it cuts like a knife
She's out of my life.
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