Charles Wesley Godwin is just great, isn’t he?
I’m pretty sure he has never put out a bad song, and I doubt he ever will. He’s one of the few artists that I can just hit shuffle on their entire discography and be happy.
One of my absolute favorite songs of his though is “Half A Heart,” which ironically ripped my heart in half the first time I heard it.
From the very first lines, I knew I was in for a knockout because Godwin comes out swinging with his poetic imagery:
“She’s just a girl born in stormy weather
Her heart a victim of the wreckage left behind…”
This woman has put herself back together despite whatever hardships she’s been through, but the boys in town are continuing to take parts of her for their own.
I mean, the imagery in this song is stellar and gives so much insight into the woman. Even choosing to use the word “mining” to describe how these boys are tearing apart her heart implies the way in which this woman has been hardened like stone because of what she’s been through.
This woman is being slowly picked apart until she has very little trust left, and what trust she still has would be hard-pressed to earn.
But the singer wants to be the one to break through.
He and this woman have some sort of relationship, but while he seems completely committed, she doesn’t believe that he’s going to stick around:
“Because I’ve only half a heart to break
So be gentle when you let me down…”
The song is full of complexities, but these two lines from the chorus are some of my favorites. This woman has accepted that this man is going to hurt her and leave, but she’s still willing to give herself to him.
I don’t know if it’s because a part of her does want to trust the singer or if she’s just so used to the pain of people leaving.
That’s the beauty of this song though. Every time I hear it, the dynamic changes between these two people, and their motivations and feelings can be interpreted in so many ways.
And I do acknowledge that my English major brain is rearing its head, but that just shows how freaking good this song is.
You gotta listen to it.