Out Of My Head

John Newman's song 'Out Of My Head' delves deep into the emotional aftermath of a breakup. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a man grappling with the loneliness and emptiness that follows the end of a significant relationship. The opening lines, 'Living in a broken home alone / 16 weeks since you've been gone,' set the stage for a narrative of isolation and heartache. The passage of time does little to heal the wounds, as the protagonist finds himself with no memories left to cling to, highlighting the depth of his despair.

The chorus reveals the protagonist's coping mechanism: 'To shut out feeling lonely / I get out of my head.' This phrase suggests a form of escapism, where he tries to numb his pain by disconnecting from reality. The repetition of 'lost everything around me / not dealing with it well' underscores his struggle to move on and find stability. The rhetorical question, 'Why would you want to love somebody / When love hurts in the end?' reflects his disillusionment with love, questioning its worth when it ultimately leads to suffering.

In the latter part of the song, the protagonist acknowledges his newfound freedom but also the hollowness that accompanies it. 'Free to see the world now as my own / Sleep with any woman that I want' suggests a superficial attempt to fill the void left by his lost love. However, the line 'anytime anyone gets close / Breaks through my mind, what I have lost' reveals that these encounters only serve as painful reminders of what he once had. The song concludes with a poignant realization: despite his efforts to move on, he remains 'beaten, broke, and out of his mind,' yet he is slowly learning to cope.