Starting Over

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of someone stuck in a loop of emotional recovery and relapse. The opening lines, "Wondering where the hours go / Catching up on TV shows," establish a sense of aimless drifting, a common feeling when trying to fill the void after a significant event. This isn't just a temporary lull; the narrator acknowledges the difficulty with "It's not easy, heaven knows / When you're starting over." This sense of repetition is the core tension. The narrator describes the silence of a "phone won't ring" and the return of "lonely me," highlighting the isolation that follows. The phrase "Always starting over" becomes a refrain, not just describing a single event but a pattern of behavior and emotional experience. It suggests a cycle where healing is perpetually interrupted, leading back to the beginning. The craft here hinges on the stark contrast between the desire for progress and the reality of regression. The narrator admits, "Almost heal then break again," a poignant description of setbacks. The repeated self-recrimination, "Foolish me," underscores the frustration with this recurring pattern. The lyrics suggest a deep-seated struggle, where even the prospect of new connection, seeing "a face across a room," is met with the anxious question, "wonder if it's still too soon." The effectiveness lies in its raw, unvarnished portrayal of this cycle. The simple, direct language makes the feeling of being trapped incredibly relatable. The repeated phrase "starting over" acts as both a description of the situation and an expression of the narrator's weariness with it, creating a powerful sense of resignation mixed with a flicker of hope that is constantly being extinguished.