This song is great for so many reasons. One is that the lyrics and sentiment expressed by the guy throughout the whole song are typical of most heartbreak songs–he uses a striking image about how broken his heart is, he can't accept the truth of her leaving, he won't let her go, he brings to mind a beautiful image of what they could be like together–, but the girl brings the twist to this song. Her lyrics and general sentiment is balanced, thoughtful, and realistic–she reminds him of all the issues and probably the mistakes that he made and how he hurt her. She cripples the overly emotional arguments of the guy with her rational counter-arguments.
So what can be learned from this song? Lots of things, of course. I would like to point out that each of the singers has ONE perspective on the ONE situation. The ONE situation is that she is leaving him heartbroken. His perspective is that he wants her back, and he remains overly emotional about it the whole time. Her perspective is that she is leaving him, and she describes the relationship consistently for what it is every time she sings. Her character is subtly complicated or deepened by her one line of doubt, "You've got a lure I can't deny," but it doesn't damage the integrity of everything else she has said previously because, of course, there was something she liked about him before all the trouble started.
Here are three, helpful road maps starting from most summarized and finishing with most detailed. These road maps show who is singing where, and what he or she is singing when. The songs form breaks down into 1st verse, 1st chorus, 2nd verse, 2nd chorus, and tag, which is, musically, the last two lines of the verse sung twice.
Very Summarized Road Map
V1
The Guy's heartbroken perspective on the relationship.
C1
Guy's romanticized vision of what the relationship could be.
V2
Girl's rational perspective.
C2
Guy's persistent romanticized vision.
Girl's frustration with the guy's perspective.
Tag
Guy's final attempt to make things right.
Girl's final refusal to give him another chance.
More Detailed Road Map
V1
Guy: I'm broken hearted, and you're deserting me for someone better. Wah wah!
C1
Guy: Imagine us together living happily ever after.
V2
Girl: You're forgetting about all of the issues we have. You think our relationship is good, but you're being selective in your memories. Let me explain the truth to you. Please let me go.
Guy: I can't. I love you so.
C2
Guy: Imagine us together living happily ever after.
Girl: Stop trying to win me back with sappy words about a romanticized vision of us.
Tag
Guy: I know I've made mistakes, but I will never hurt you again
Girl: I am a little bit conflicted, but you've had your chance, it's over.
Most Detailed Road Map
Verse 1: sung by him
The audience enters the song right in the middle of the guy's situation.
Starts with an image that describes the state of his heart.
"...call a surgeon...repair this broken heart..."
Gets accusatory "...this broken heart that you're deserting for better company."
He can't accept her leaving him.
Goalie image about him blocking the door, trying to keep her from leaving. A little over the top, but then the next lines are more sensible.
he proposes his solution: tell me what I can do different, and I'll do it.
Chorus: sung by him
Wouldn't life be great if the situation were like this:
We get married and grow old together.
Verse 2: sung by her
Her perspective
She claims he's got a selective memory. "...revisions and gaps in history..."
"Gaps in history" doesn't directly respond to anything that the guy said in the first verse, but it does indirectly respond to the accusatory tone in "...this broken heart that you're deserting for better company." When we hear "You're getting carried away feeling sorry for yourself with these revisions and gaps in history," we imagine a fuller perspective on their relationship including rough patches that the guy is ignoring.
The girl uses a business/academic presentation metaphor to show her reasonable perspective on why she is leaving him.
She responds to the line he sang earlier about blocking the door when she asks him to let her go.
He interjects here and reiterates that he can't accept her leaving.
Extended Chorus: sung by both
Wouldn't life be great if the situation were like this:
We get married and grow old together.
(He's still stuck on his "idealistic future" in spite of her reminder about the truth of their issues.)
She sings on top of that line and reprimands him for being stuck in his misconceptions about the reality of their relationship. She accuses him of holding an idealistic vision of their future.
Her next line about sutures is brilliant because it picks up on the medical motif from the first line of the song. Also, sutures can be representative here of the truth about their relationship that the guy keeps "pulling out" of the equation in his head. She's saying that if he lets the truth stay in the equation or "wound" caused by her leaving, the "truth-sutures" will eventually heal him, but if he keeps pulling them out of the wound, it will never heal.
Tag
Finally he admits to having made mistakes, and he promises to change.
She admits that there is something about him that she is still attracted to,
but she can't continue to give him chance after chance "so say goodbye."
Final Thought
So, why does the same chorus that the guy sings work after each verse? "Tell me am I right to think that there could be nothing better than making you my bride and slowly growing old together." It works because the song doesn't show a change in either person's perspective or feelings. He keeps singing the same sentiment the whole time even while she sings counter-arguments on top of his lines. The song shows a single state of each person's perspective, which provides the listener with compelling or heart wrenching conflict between two people.
