Music Connection
Lyrics:The broken clock is a comfort
It let's me sleep tonight
Maybe it can stop tomorrow
From stealing all my time
I am here still waiting
I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best
Like you've already figured out
(Chorus)
I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain
There is healing
In your name
I find meaning
So I'm holding on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
Barely holding on to you
The broken locks were a warning
You got inside my head
Tried my best to be guarded
I'm an open book instead
I still see your reflection
Inside my eyes
That are looking for purpose
There still looking for life
--(Chorus)--
Hanging on another day
Just to see what you will throw my way
And I'm hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will, will be OK
Broken light on the freeway
Left me here alone
I may have lost my way now
Haven't forgotten my way home
I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain (In the pain)
There is healing
In your name (In your name)
I find meaning
So I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
Barely holding on to you
I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
Barley holding on to you
It let's me sleep tonight
Maybe it can stop tomorrow
From stealing all my time
I am here still waiting
I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best
Like you've already figured out
(Chorus)
I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain
There is healing
In your name
I find meaning
So I'm holding on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
Barely holding on to you
The broken locks were a warning
You got inside my head
Tried my best to be guarded
I'm an open book instead
I still see your reflection
Inside my eyes
That are looking for purpose
There still looking for life
--(Chorus)--
Hanging on another day
Just to see what you will throw my way
And I'm hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will, will be OK
Broken light on the freeway
Left me here alone
I may have lost my way now
Haven't forgotten my way home
I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain (In the pain)
There is healing
In your name (In your name)
I find meaning
So I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
Barely holding on to you
I'm holding on (I'm still holdin'), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on), I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')
Barley holding on to you
Song Analysis
This song can be interpreted as a man meeting a person who can reach out to him through the wall, or protective barriers, he built for himself. This person is someone that is different from other people he has met. The lines, "I'm falling apart/ I'm barely breathing" can be seen as his first time where a person is actually trying to connect to him. He is afraid since that has never happened to him before; usually people tend to ignore his inner feelings or do not connect to him on an emotional level. The man soon realizes that this connect with the person is soothing and gives him strength, as seen through the lines "This is healing/in your name/I find meaning". This shows that he now cannot live without this person since they are what keeps him from continuing on with his life. What he at first doubted became something that he now cannot live without.
Connection to The Book Thief
The man in this song can be compared to Max, while the other person can be represented as Liesel. Max, a Jewish man in hiding, builds a similar "wall", or protection over his feelings because he pulls away from being to attached others in fear that he might harm them. Liesel gently breaks through his barriers and connects with him since they share similarities in their lives. By gaining this connection with Liesel, she becomes the reason he continues on with his life, much like the man in the song. When the song says "I'm holding on/ Barely holding on to you," it can be compared to when Max would rely on Liesel to tell him the smaller facts of the world outside. Such as when he asks to know the weather outside and the feeling of snow. He holds on the Liesel and these small details to make it past the hard times he has to go through.