Music Review: Lifehouse "Halfway Gone"

Lifehouse

Halfway Gone

Album: Smoke & Mirrors

Year: 2009

              Jason Wade has checked out of his relationship in the jaded “Halfway Gone.”

            Resolved guitars open the single, setting a finished tone.  She tells him she has something to do for work. They’ll get together next weekend and she’s really, really sorry. He hangs up the phone He’s simply waiting for the day she breaks up with for him. He would like to believe she’ll eventually see his worth but as time goes on, he finds himself caring less and less. (“Halfway gone, I'm halfway gone/You were always hard to hold/So letting go ain't easy/I'm hanging on but growing cold/While my mind is leaving.”)

              In the chorus, she says that he’s a part of her life. However, he knows she’s only telling what he wants to hear. The right moment is going to happen sometime. (“Talk, talk is cheap/Give me your word you can keep/Because I'm halfway gone, and I'm on my way/And I'm feeling, feeling, feeling this way/Because you're halfway in, but don't take too long/Because I'm halfway gone, I'm halfway gone/Halfway gone, I'm halfway gone.”)

            He’ll be never enough for her. She has dreams to achieve and from his point of view, he’s disposable. (“You got one foot out the door/And choking on the other/Always think there's something more/Is just around the corner.”)

             The chorus is sung again.

            In the bridge, it’s as though she’d rather be single, doing her own thing. It’s as though he’s not even there. (“If you want me out, then I'm on my way/And I'm feeling, feeling, I'm feeling this way.”)

            In the second chorus, he can only wait. But he’s ready to leave at any minute. (“Because you're halfway in, but don't take too long/Because I'm halfway gone, I'm halfway gone/I'm halfway gone, I'm halfway gone/Now I'm halfway gone, I'm halfway gone.”)

         In the final section, the chorus are combined. It’s sung three times to end the single. (“Don't take too long, don't take too long/Because I'm on my way, if you take too long/Because I'm halfway gone, and I'm on way/And I'm feeling, feeling, I'm feeling this way/Because you're halfway in, but don't take too long/Because I'm halfway gone, I'm halfway gone/If you want me out, then I'm on my way/And I'm feeling, feeling, I'm feeling this way/Because you're halfway in, but don't take too long/Because I'm halfway gone, I'm halfway gone.”)

             Wade’s gruff vocals are at a peace with his decision. The relationship isn’t making him happy anymore. It’s only made him bitter and he can’t live with it.

            The irritated “Halfway Gone” isn’t shedding any more tears.