Every Heartbreak Is A Swinging Door

Cris Cohen: You have some interesting turns of phrase on this album, Sumatra. One that stood out to me is in the song “Route 66”… the line “forward only works as an action verb.” I’m wondering if you remember how that came about?

Paula Boggs: I Googled “forward.” I was like, “What does the dictionary say about the word ‘forward’?” Because I wanted that to be a propelling word in that song. I went to Webster. It (said), “It’s an action verb.” I was like, “That is brilliant. I can use that. I can run with that.”

Cris Cohen: It’s a great example of just a few words that say a lot.

Another lyric that grabbed me was from the song “Wasting Young Man.” “Every heartbreak is a swinging door you can choose to walk through.”

I’ve never heard the metaphor of a swinging door used with heartbreak before. Normally it’s (written as a) crushing blow. In what way is a swinging door apropos to a heartbreak?

Paula Boggs: I actually had a specific person in mind when I wrote this song. I remember the darkness that enveloped my friend upon the realization that this person he loved did not love him back. I’ve known this person long enough to know it all worked out okay. Eventually he did find love. To do that, he had to put himself out there.

It just seemed to me that the swinging door was a great metaphor for choice. You can stay in the darkness. You can stay where you are or you can take a risk, a chance. You don’t know what’s on the other side of the door.

It seemed to me that the swinging door gives the person ultimate agency of what happens next. It’s not a closed door. It’s not open in an inviting way per se. You must choose. And that’s what the song says. You can choose.

It was the choice that I wanted to really amplify with that metaphor.