The Break-Up Song


Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- The Light Before We Land by Delgados


The break-up wasn't horrible or bittersweet. It wasn't exactly amicable, but it was long coming in hindsight. Andy doesn't hate Bloom for breaking up with him. He isn't angry with her. He's sad, not the kind of sad where he would cry over a picture of her, but the kind of sad where he didn't see the ending coming so soon.

At least she didn't use the "we're-better-as-friends" break-up line. It's just he wishes that the break-up happened after his first gig. Before the break-up, he was planning to play all these romantic ballads at the Frutti Music Bar. It is couples' night at Klaus's bar.

Now, he just finds those ballads kind of inappropriate for him. Unfortunately, the bar is filled with couples expecting love songs. He'll just have to get creative and fast before it's his turn on the stage.

He racks his brain for nearly ten minutes, while listening to a decent rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" power ballad. He can always sing a song that sounds romantic but is really about a break-up.

He knows one song that he has been fiddling with for the past year. Problem is that he lacks the instruments necessary to replicate the smoothness of the song. He only has his bass guitar and his voice isn't as dreamy as the songstress.

His time is up when the power ballad singer comes backstage. Well, he cannot back out of the song now. He goes up and sees some of his friends there. Bloom isn't there. They just broke up about a week ago, so he understands if she feels awkward about coming.

He wishes she was here.

He pushes up his horn-rimmed glasses and plugs in his bass into the amp. He feels lighter from Bloom's absence. The lightness translates well into his voice.

"In cases such as these I'd like a hand

Don't wake me up without a master plan

With black and white instead of colour

Don't you understand?

When things that once were beautiful

Are bland"

He is thinking while singing. He thinks of Bloom. He thinks of their relationship. The beginning and the end.

"And when I feel like I can feel once again

Let me stay awhile

Soak it in awhile

If we can hold on we can fix what is wrong

Buy a little time

For this head of mine

Haven for us"

It was two weeks after the first year of high school began. He was using a shortcut to get to the music room when he met Bloom. She was also using the same shortcut to reach her art class.

"In truth there is no better place to be

Than falling out of darkness still to see"

It started off with them waving at each other. Within a week, they exchanged simple "hellos". Then, two weeks later, they started making small talk with the five minutes of free time they had.

"Without a premonition

Could you tell me where we stand?

I'd hate to lose this light

Before we land"

Andy did not ask Bloom on a date until nearly two months of quick chats together. He thought that she would say no because she never blushed with him like he did with her. They went to the movies, shared their dreams, and called each other every night.

"And when I feel like I can feel once again

Let me stay awhile

Soak it in awhile

If we can hold on we can fix what is wrong

Buy a little time

For this head of mine

Haven for us"

Bloom was his first girlfriend. She is amazingly kind and gorgeous. She is everything that Andy would want in a realistic, ideal girlfriend. Apparently, he just wasn't what Bloom wanted in a boyfriend. They broke up two weeks before school would end.

"Before we let euphoria

Convince us we are free

Remind us how we used to feel

Before when life was real"

He looks across the crowd once more and sees Bloom. Her hair is a raggedy mess and her clothes look a bit sweaty like she ran all the way here. She smiles at him with warmth and support. She's late, but she's here.

"And when I feel like I can feel once again

Let me stay awhile

Soak it in awhile

If we can hold on we can fix what is wrong

Buy a little time

For this head of mine

Haven for us"

He still carries a torch for her, but she has made it very clear that she doesn't feel a spark for him. It's okay. Maybe, in a year from now, they'll be good friends. He hopes they won't drift apart like most couples tend to do after the break-up. He would hate to not talk with her for years.