beabadoobee Takes Heartbreak In Stride On New Song “The Way Things Go”

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It’s her second new single of 2023.

Filipino English indie-pop rocker beabadoobee, aka Beatrice Laus, returned yesterday with “The Way Things Go,” her second single of 2023 and first since opening for Taylor Swift on a string of Eras Tour dates this spring. The sprightly and pragmatic breakup song quickly shot into the Top 5 of the Genius Top Songs chart.

Written by beabadoobee and produced by Jacob Bugden, who plays guitar in her band and worked extensively on her last album, 2022’s Beatopia, “The Way Things Go” starts off with just guitar and vocals before slowly adding dainty orchestral flourishes. The singer admits that there’s “so much left to say” and calls herself “the bigger guy” before shrugging her shoulders in the aftermath of a busted relationship.

And there’s too much on my mind
That I don’t even want to try
Guess it’s not far from the ordinary
They do say love is blind
But I guess that’s the way things go

On the chorus, beabadoobee makes it sound like she can barely recollect her time with this person. It might just be wishful thinking.

Can’t remember how to say your name
Let alone count all the freckles on your face
A distant memory I used to know
Oh, I guess that’s just the way things go

The second half of the chorus suggests this other person wasn’t always the best partner they could’ve been.

Can’t remember when you said you called
Miles away, and it was still my fault
The love you said you had, it sometimes showed
Oh, I guess that’s just the way things go
Oh, I guess that’s just the way things go

What specifically did this other person do wrong? In the first verse, beabadoobee spells it out pretty plainly.

Didn’t think you’d ever stoop so low
Getting with the only girl you know
A lousy route that only makes me say
“That’s pretty lame and that’s the way things go”
Oh, I guess that’s just the way things go

On the second verse, beabadoobee seems to have moved on and found peace. If she harbors any ill feelings, she’s not really into showing them.

Passed your house when I was on a train
In my mind, you’ll always stay the same
I’m happy now, I ought to let you know
But I guess that’s just the way things go

“The Way Things Go” arrived with a music video that finds beabadoobee as the black swan in a roomful of white-clad ballerinas. Bugden appears as a guy doing a painting in the background. At one point, Bugden and beabadoobee enjoy glasses of champagne delivered rather impressively by a tumbling waiter.