“Break It” by Reigning Sound is a song that I love. It’s a song that I love because it is one of those songs that I listen to and find myself wishing that I had written it myself.
I wish that I had written this song not only because of the clever chord progression, or the interesting phrasing of the vocal line, but specifically because of the concept behind the lyrics in this song.
“Break It” is written from the point of view of a man whose heart has been badly broken by a woman who did not treat him well. This man realizes that this woman did him wrong, and knows that she has moved on to be with someone else. This man’s heart, however, does not share these feelings. His heart does not realize that this love has gone away. His heart still believes that this woman is the love of his life and that they should be together.
Written by Reigning Sound singer/guitarist Greg Cartwright—leading member of the Oblivians, producer of the Detroit Cobras, and general rock and roll god—this song examines the sometimes complete disconnect between heart and mind, and how they can often work against each other.
As humans we like to believe that we can control our emotions, that we can dictate who we like and who we love, what we feel and when we feel it, but the truth is that far too often we are powerless against our hearts.
Today released an article in 2006 examining the relationship between the heart and the mind with Dr. Rollin McCraty of the Institute of HeartMath, a non-profit body dedicated to research and education around reducing stress. This article suggests that the two have an intricate link to one another, but contrary to popular belief, the heart may be the one in control.
Today reads: “The heart is in a constant two-way dialogue with the brain – our emotions change the signals the brain sends to the heart and the heart responds in complex ways. However, we now know that the heart sends more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart.”
“As we experience feelings like anger, frustration, anxiety, and insecurity, our heart rhythm patterns become more erratic. These erratic patterns are sent to the emotional centers in the brain, which it recognizes as negative or stressful feelings. These signals create the actual feelings we experience in the heart area and the body. The erratic heart rhythms also block our ability to think clearly.”
Cartwright’s lyrics go on to further explain the dialogue between this man’s heart and his mind – his mind unable to convince his heart to let this person go and relieve him of the pain he is feeling.
“Do it a favor and help me to remind, and break it for me one more time,” sings Cartwright, begging for the woman to return just so that she can break his heart a second time and show his heart that their love is through.
The beauty of this song is that we’ve all been there – we can all relate to the feeling of having no control over our emotions. Feeling helpless when we find ourselves heartbroken and making irrational decisions with our hearts rather than our minds, like calling your ex in the middle of the night when you’ve been drinking, or confessing your love to someone with whom you really want to be with.
It’s possible though that if we did rely on only our minds when making decisions that have to do with love then we might not take risks because our thinking might be too rational and being vulnerable might seem too scary. It’s possible that sometimes we need to think with our hearts instead of our minds to take that leap of faith whether we end up with a broken heart or not, because sometimes taking that risk can pay off big time. Sometimes that risk can lead to love, and that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
