The Opposite of Love = Marriage?

I was introduced to Tracy Thorn today...well, her music. More importantly, someone brought her newest album to my attention. Called "Love and Its Opposite", Thorn attempts to navigate love and understand the push and pull that are relationships and marriage. According to Thorn, the opposite of love is marriage. The obligation and stress that comes with long-term relationships and with the fear of losing them can be suffocating. The album cover is eerie, a forlorn family poses for a portrait, their faces haphazardly colored in seemingly by an angry child; a child who was forced to watch their parents' marriage crumble.

The first track on the album, "Oh, The Divorces!" (a song whose lyrics I had to include) is a melancholy reflection on the inevitability of failed love...As I listened, I realized that this epitomizes my view of marriage - it's a slow death once the "I do's" are done; and when the divorce is announced, everyone is shocked: "I thought they were so happy!"

The last lines of the song remind me of the beginning lines of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way". Each happy family is a replica of the other because it's a facade - underneath those pleasant dinners and peaceful barbecues is a mother and a father who feel suffocated, stressed, and somewhat alone. Well, at least according to Tracy Thorn...and I have to say I agree with her.

I transcribed the lyrics for you...I apologize if they are incorrect. I did my best!

Oh, The Divorces!

Who's next?

Who's next?

Always the ones that you least expect

They seem so strong

Turns out she wants it more all alone

And each time I hear who drifts apart

I examine my heart

See how it stands

Wonder if it's still in safe hands.

Who's fled? Who's fled?

Who's been caught out in somebody's bed?

You should have guessed that day his phone wouldn't take your text.

He was a charmer

I wish him bad karma

Oh I know we shouldn't take sides

But that one was his fault

And this one is her fault

No one gets off without pain...?

Oh, the divorces

And oh, oh, oh

The honeymoon, the wedding ring, oh, oh, oh

The afternoon hand-overs by the swings

...

You're still so young

But it ends just as easily as it's begun.

Now there's kids to tell

The legal bills and custody

And oh, the divorces.

And this one is different and each one of course is,

And always the same...