Music Review: Rob Thomas "Mockingbird"

Rob Thomas

Mockingbird

Album: Cradlesong

Year: 2010

             Rob Thomas and his girlfriend discuss their fractured relationship in the  arctic “Mockingbird.”

                    A rational guitar opens the single, setting a sensible tone.  He takes a deep breath before speaking. She sits across him, her arms folded across the chest. He isn’t sure what’s going to happen between them now. They can pretend, twisting themselves into other people for each other or finally talk about what’s been wrong for such a long time. He sees other couples and they seem to enjoy being in each other’s company. Meanwhile, she’d prefer to act like one of those couples.  (“Here we stand/Somewhere in between this moment and the end/Will we bend/Or will we open up and take this whole thing in/Everybody else is smiling/Man, their smiles don't fade/You don’t even wonder why/You just don’t think that way.”)

            In the chorus, he says they have changed since being together. Now, they are in two different places. For awhile, neither wanted to admit what they were thinking. He says they should break up. They would be better off apart. (“Maybe you and me got lost somewhere/We can’t move on, we can’t stay here/Maybe we’ve just had enough/Well maybe we ain’t meant for this love/You and me tried everything/But still that mockingbird won’t sing/Man this life seems enough/Well maybe we ain’t meant for this love.”)

                 He says he still wants to be friends with her. They’ve known each other’s families for years even before they began dating. He wants to be involved in her life somehow. However, he can’t invest anymore in a romantic relationship. (“Take my hand/I will lead you through the broken promise land/Yes I can oh yes I can/I can be there when you need it/I'll give it all til you can’t feel it anymore/I don’t wanna love you now/If you’ll just leave some day/I don’t wanna turn around/If you’ll just walk away.”)

                   The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

                 Thomas doles out his feelings in a businesslike manner. It’s over for him. He’s been checked out for awhile.. At this point, it’s a formality. It’s oddly cold and unemotional. It brings up the question whether she meant anything to him at all.

          The matter-of-fact “Mockingbird” gives up without really trying.