The other night, on the far side of a safe number of drinks, a friend asked me how long it took, if ever, to truly get over a lost love. A year? Five? Never? Funny she asked me that, as I’ve been listening to Elbow’s “The Bones Of You” a bit recently¹, and the song tells the tale of a successful businessman suddenly derailed “When out of a doorway the tentacles stretch
Of a song that I know”. Before he knows it, he is catapulted backward:

And it’s you, and it’s May\And we’re sleeping through the day
And I’m five years ago\And three thousand miles away

He’s astonished by the effect, “A man of my calibre\Stood in the street like a sleepwalking teenager”; but “The sickener hits; I can work till I break\but I love the bones of you\That, I will never escape”.

So the answer from Elbow to my friend’s question? Five years to start with, and it’s all downhill from there. Sorry, that’s not a huge help. Me, I said “When the serious, proper, true love comes along, the one that you may well settle down with and spend your life in domestic harmony, that’s when the old ones start to fade”. Well, I probably said something like “Bleaurgh, you’ll forget, don’tyouworry, where’s my Corona?”, but the sentiment was there, trust me.

And in case you don’t know the song, listen to this utterly magnificent live version. What a voice. Guy Garvey writes lyrics that can tear your heart out and sing it like an angel trying to repair the damage. Truly, if you don’t like this song, you don’t like music.

Bloody hell, I really need to listen to the new album.

MP3: The Bones Of You by Elbow

¹ Mainly because I’ve been listening to “Starlings” lots so I can work on my own version. One day, if I’m really brave, I’ll record it and post it on here.

Buy “The Seldom Seen Kid” (CD/MP3)