themesong 10/20: Not to be Shared

There are songs that speak to secret parts of us, that we can’t play for anyone because we think they’ll read too far into it and somehow divine all of our secrets.

This is not that song; at least, this is not that song for me. But this is a song about having things that you don’t share. This is the best song I know about the cold fierce miserable joy of being alone. About not sharing yourself, about cutting yourself off from the highs to seal yourself away from the lows. About being selfishly selfish, romantically distant. About buying into all sorts of self-pitying hype. About pretending you’re a windswept rock off the Scottish coast.

And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.

[lyrics]