Don't you think we oughta know by now? Don't you think we should've learn somehow...

Lately, I've been obsessed with two John Mayer songs. The first is Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, which is slow and lovely. (Here's a live performance of it, found on YouTube)

Lyrics:

It's not a silly little moment
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we've been working on

Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come to save us
We've pulled too many false alarms

We're going down
And you can see it, too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear, we're
Slow dancing in a burning room

I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me
Baby you're the only light I ever saw

I make the best of all the sadness
You be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me just to hurt me so you leave me feeling dirty
Cause you can't understand

We're going down
And you can see it, too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear, we're
Slow dancing in a burning room

Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
My dear, we're
Slow dancing in a burning room

Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we should've learned somehow?
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we should've learned somehow...


I know, not the happiest song in the world, by far. But it's just...slow and lovely, and beautiful in its sadness. Mayer's gorgeous guitar-playing and singing don't hurt, either.

I'm not even going to dissect the entire song, because it doesn't really need dissection. But what gets me about this song, though, is that one line. The title line, the most repeated line, the line that breaks my heart every time: slow dancing in a burning room...

If that doesn't hit the nail on the head, I don't know what does. I'm not going to pretend I'm some relationship expert, that I'm experience in all kinds of break ups and such--of my grand total of 10, only two have been outside of high school. However, one or two of those have ended as this song describes: going down in flames, unable to let it go just yet, unable to admit that it's over because the emotions are still real and true.

The visual it brings to mind is pretty clear: a couple, oblivious to anything but each other, holding one another close but not meeting eyes, turning around and around in a waltz in the middle of the dance floor, while the dance hall burns to cinders and ashes around them. It's poignant, it's heart breaking...it's perfect.

I've posted the lyrics to the other song I've been obsessed with, Heart of Life, at my LiveJournal, since I'm not really talking about them, just sharing.