Sometimes I take this song off my iPod because it is just too damn sad.
This is a feeling I have flirted with, the "I-don't-want-to-have-you-but-neither-can-anyone-else." It is simple human envy. It is not a feeling that you want to have, and generally it induces another layer of guilt because you don't want to be "that person."
"good arms, versus bad arms, will win hands down
they are built to hold and fit
look how far they go around
you don't need these now that you've found another pair
and the difference astounding, i should expect
except
leave the rest at arm's length
keep your naked flesh under your favorite dress
and leave the rest at arm's length
when they reach out, don't touch them, don't touch them
i decided this decision some six months ago
so i'll stick to my guns, but from now on it's war
i am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick
i might not want you back, but i want to kill him
and leave the rest at arm's length
keep your naked flesh under your favorite dress
and leave the rest at arm's length
when they reach out, don't touch them, don't touch them"
-Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
It's a brilliantly written song, because you can hear the denial in his voice. You see through the lyrical lies. It's an honest perspective, because I would think the average person lies to themselves, privately, about their feelings, at least several times a day. "I'm not stressed," "I need him," "I'm depressed,"...the list goes on and on. We think these lies to ourselves are harmless, and for the time being, maybe, sure, they are. But in the long run, they are the bricks of a fortress constructed around the heart, one that is difficult for the winged birds of honest love and emotion to exit.
Somehow this song captures this feeling for me. Sure, in this song the singer's saying he doesn't need, or want, this love anymore, but you know he does. He wouldn't be writing the song if he didn't.
