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Introduction
The Paper Kites open “Morning Gum” inside a fragile morning routine, where headlines loom and rain clouds threaten. Yet the narrator keeps circling back to a simple refrain: proximity to a loved one is enough fuel to grind through the day.
Verse
The single sprawling verse feels like pages ripped from a private journal—half confession, half pep talk.
“Throw out all the papers / Spare me the news of the day”
Tuning out current events isn’t apathy; it’s self-preservation. The speaker recognizes how external chaos feeds internal anxiety and chooses selective ignorance to stay functional.
“Rain will always come down, but let me say / I get back for you my love”
The weather metaphor lands softly. Rain is inevitable, so resilience must be too. Their devotion morphs into a renewable resource that recharges after every downpour.
“I don’t want to change our ways / Just to keep the darkness at bay”
Rather than reinvent themselves to dodge sorrow, they cling to authenticity. The line hints at a larger theme of identity: real love doesn’t require cosmetic optimism, only shared witness.
Chorus
“Look at me now / I get by, I get by, I get by”
The repetition feels like deep breaths taken in quick succession. It’s not bravado—it’s evidence. Each “I get by” tallies another small victory against creeping despair, transforming the phrase into a mantra of modest triumph.
Conclusion
“Morning Gum” captures that bleary moment when sunlight hits the kitchen counter and life’s heaviness briefly feels liftable. By anchoring the song in ordinary vows and refrain-as-affirmation, The Paper Kites turn survival into something intimate and sharable. Nothing is permanently solved, but for now, getting by is more than enough.
