BREAK ON THROUGH
Sometimes you gotta judge a book by its cover
Can't be to careful when you're lookin for a lover
Who knows what you'll discover after meeting under covers
You might find out that you invented one another
You saw her in that coffee shop sippin on her double shot
Typin something slow on a silver lap top
She was lookin real hot, you wanna give it all you got
You think once, think twice and then you think I think not
Maybe its finally time to commit to some love in your life
Maybe with some practice and time you may find that you
Want to get this love thing right and
Break on through. Break on through. Break on through.
She walks out the door, shakin in that miniskirt
She's got a dragon tattoo under her belly shirt
A movie star lookin flirt, makes you wanna quit work
It must be the real deal cause she's makin your body hurt
When you get inside you'll be sittin ringside
Watchin the roller coaster ride of your crazy life
Stuck in the sand its about to be full tide
You'll be wishing you had left her all alone
She hits you on your blind side, gets you so your tongue's tied
Makes you watch her while she serves your heart to you deep fried
You can't say that I lied, left your self open wide
And now you're wondering how you got on such a long long ride
Words Ben Shannon
Music Ben Shannon/Clark Slater
Welcome Abraham Publishing
A Story about "Break on Through"
This song was written in the parking lot of a Whole Foods/Starbucks while waiting for my wife to come out of a FedX store. As I was people-watching through the windshield I felt a song was coming, so I found a note pad and a pen. That's when I saw an ex of mine making her way across the parking lot with a young boy, whom I supposed to be her son. Memories came flooding back and I tossed and turned in the turmoil, alternately poked by regret, buoyed by wonder, and soothed by relief that I had earned my karmic freedom.
It occurred to me then as it had many times before that if I hadn’t laid my heart out for the taking, if I hadn’t made and lost passionate love, if I hadn’t learned from risks, then I would not have been able to “get this love thing right.” This particular woman was a beautiful, kind, and troubled manipulator and I was her willing victim for some time. My grandmother gave this woman the nickname “The Decorator” for her elaborate and effusive lies, revisions, and evasions.
In the song, the first line of the first verse, “Sometimes you got to judge a book by its cover, can’t be too careful when you’re lookin for a lover..” borrows from the Oscar Wilde saying-"It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible..." So in my case, I needed to learn that if someone appears to be distracted then they probably are. If someone appears to not love themselves then they probably don’t love themselves. Duh.
Seeing clearly through the mists of romance can be difficult and often I chose then, to see only what I wanted to--only to discover later that we “invented one another” to varying degrees. The big problems came when I realized that she had invented herself(selves) in order to be with me. Decorators are in a world of pain and denial as their shared self deception gets overrun by an ever encroaching reality of former friends, family, and relationships. But, if one is truly intelligent (I didn’t say wise) one can keep the deceptions going for quite a while until the other person either breaks down or breaks up or both.
The bridge and final verse is where I tried to communicate what it feels like to be on the hook in this kind of relationship (PAIN. HORROR. DISGUST) while also keep things light hearted. Overall I want to encourage people to break through, take a risk, get broken, and learn from it. No matter how much it hurt, I know I loved. I know I trusted my heart and loved who I thought she was--through all the painful decoration. "Love," to me at least, is a series of break throughs that lead one closer to humanity one beautiful and imperfect person at a time.