Music Review: Lucy Woodward "Trouble With Me"

Lucy Woodward

Trouble With  Me

Album: While You Can

Year: 2004

     Lucy Woodward ends up rejecting a guy because she doesn’t know what she wants in the abrasive “Trouble With Me.”

              Derisive guitars open the single, setting an irked tone. His face crumpled and he put his head down. She’s going to be hear him trying to cover up his tears for a long time. He’s a nice guy and everything. She flirted with him, so something about him obviously attracted him to her. Sometime, she lost interest in him. She thinks it was when she saw him eat spaghetti. The slurping sound he made grossed her out. Then, she felt like she was being mean and therefore, he’s better off without her. It’s like no one is her type. (“Thinking that I want you/And you know that I coulda got what I want/Anybody feel that/When you know/But your heart lets it go 'til it's all gone/It's not like I don't see it/When it's coming on/Still I feel like I don't belong.”)

          In the chorus, she says her independent nature is out of control. It rules her and causes her plenty of problems. She’s stubborn and doesn’t like caving into her emotions. But at the same time, she wants to be in a relationship. (“The trouble with me is/I'm the sum of the parts of something wild/It's a little big thing/And I know it/The trouble with me/Is I got the heart of nobody's child/But I don't wanna be free/That's the trouble with me.”)

          Her ex-boyfriend could never figure her out. He had finally learned she liked to read about historical events. For her birthday, he bought a bunch of those books. But she had moved on to short stories by that time. Her lack of enthusiasm caused a major fight later. She decided to break off it off. He apologized and said he overreacted. He told her she wasn’t the problem. But she decided to still leave. It’s so exhausting being her and she can’t find anyone who really understands her. (“Thinking that you know me/But it's just when you think that/You know it/You're wrong/Wishing you could show me how to stay/But I can't anyway/Not this song/Don't you know that I get weary/I get so lonely but it's just no use at all.”)

           The chorus is sung again.

          In the bridge, she doesn’t even know who she is. Whenever she makes any decisions, it’s like she’s not even herself. It’s some extreme version of her that she doesn’t recognize. She has no idea how to stop herself from acting impulsive all the time. It just happens. (“You try to make sense of it you try/But it's not really me who's saying goodbye/It's like I got some kinda split personality/You know nothing ever gets control of me like this/What can I do?”)

               The chorus is sung again.

               Woodward sings part of the first verse again to end the single. (“Thinking that I want you/And you know that I coulda got what I want.”

             Woodward’s self-involved vocals excuse her behavior with whining. No one will get to know the real her. She’s so damaged, no one can ever love her truly. She’s so horrible to people and not good enough for the good guys she does meet. She’s absolutely right. She is too much trouble and cares more for maintaining her ‘poor me’ act than putting any real work into a relationship.

            The nervy “Trouble With Me” chokes on its manic dream pixie girl dust, hacking for hours on end to everyone’s annoyance.