Handshake (Live at Brixton Academy)

Song Meaning

The lyrics for "Handshake" immediately plunge into a scene of suspicion and unresolved questions. A past interaction, marked by a handshake, leaves the narrator pondering lost love and the true intentions behind the gesture. There's an immediate sense of unease, a feeling that something significant, and perhaps unsettling, has transpired. The central emotional tension arises from the narrator's initial confusion contrasted with the stark, almost prophetic warnings delivered by a character identified only as "She." Her pronouncements about "the devil will want you back" suggest a dark past or a recurring pattern of behavior for the narrator. This creates a powerful dynamic, hinting at a struggle between past transgressions and a potential path forward. Craft-wise, the recurring image of the "hand" is particularly potent. The initial "shook my hand" implies a specific, perhaps deceptive, interaction, while "you'll never find love in an open hand" transforms it into a broader metaphor for a failed approach to genuine connection or vulnerability. "Shut your eyes, so you see I'm there" then demands a blind trust, an almost desperate plea to perceive her presence beyond external reality. The emotional weight of the lyrics comes from "She's" conditional offer of solace, which feels less like unconditional love and more like a last resort. The narrator's confession, "I lied, this was not for my pride," adds a layer of vulnerability and self-awareness, making "She's" warnings about the "devil" feel earned. The promise that "you'll always have this if you stay this man" presents a complex, perhaps bittersweet, form of acceptance, contingent on the narrator remaining in a specific, known state.