The Last Time
30 Days of Writing Challenge Day 17: “a song you’d sing a duet with someone on karaoke”
I can’t remember the last time I went to karaoke. I think it was middle school? My latest memory of karaoke was back in middle school. I remember we have just finished the national exam, went to the mall to watch the Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2 movie, then went to the karaoke because we don’t want to go home yet. It was one of my favorite moments from middle school. I also remembered one song I wished I could duet with a friend of mine back then. So, I’ll talk about that song today, and it’s a song by Taylor Swift ft. Gary Lightbody, The Last Time.
Basically, this song is a breakup song from two perspectives; the boy and girl, with the boy’s on the first verse and the girl’s on the second verse. The lyrics are classic Taylor’s storytelling lyrics in her best era (I think).
Find myself at your door
Just like all those times before
I’m not sure how I got there
All roads they lead me here
I imagine you are home
In your room, all alone
And you open your eyes into mine
And everything feels better
Although these verses don’t have a pretty satisfying rhyme, it’s easy to understand for me, and that is a plus. It’s complementary when your lyrics don’t have a pleasing rhyme; if it’s easy to understand, then it’s good in my ears. And these lyrics are quite easy to understand for me. This part obviously tells a story about a boy who messed up again, then ended up at his girl’s door to apologize. “Just like all those times before” clearly means that he did this many times, and all the roads led him there because there is no better way than apologizing.
This is the last time you tell me I’ve got it wrong
This is the last time I say it’s been you all along
This is the last time I let you in my door
This is the last time, I won’t hurt you anymore
The last time means the literal last time for him to mess things up. And that was the last time for the girl to accept his apology. No more mistakes because I think she had enough.
I think what makes this song fun to duet with is its flow. This song has its own storyline and mood flow. Even though this is a breakup song, this song is fun for me with its conversation-like plot. The retort singing part on the bridge maximizes the tension in this song and doubles up the excitement to sing this on karaoke. Maybe we can act like superstars, or even Taylor Swift and Gary Lightbody themselves singing live at big stages.
The simple reasons why I would sing a duet with this song are there are already divided into parts for two singers, and imagine what kind of drama we can play with this song.
