Kevin Driscoll sings of the tough struggle of getting over a breakup in Black It Out, and he sings about it in a way that is both brutally real and somehow reassuring. The lyrics tell us about how he tries to shake off the weight of memories that keep pulling him back. Instead of using flowery descriptions or big words, Kevin takes the direct route with his lyrics, and that is what makes them sound all the more real and familiar.

Kevin echoes the wish to black it out over the course of the song. The line is like a plea, even a command, to himself to stop hurting. By repeating it so many times, he shows how hard it is to actually do so, even when you feel that it is the only thing that can help you move on. Repeating the lines themselves so many times makes the words stick in your head, and it seems like Kevin is trying to talk himself into it almost as much as trying to talk other people into believing him.

The lyrics paint a picture of too many late nights, empty hours, and words that have been said so long ago that they no longer held meaning. It’s like Kevin is explaining that the breakup wasn’t over some one specific moment, but over countless little cracks that accumulated over the years. There is something so incredibly human in the way he lists these small moments, like recounting the breakup by listing the ways that it could not possibly be.

What makes the words have additional power is that Kevin is being so candid about his own shortcomings and regrets. He says excuses, drinking, and lies, all of which sound like ways of blunting the pain that never really did. There’s no finger-pointing at the other person; Kevin takes responsibility for his share. That’s what makes the song grown-up and knowing.

Meanwhile, the lyrics do not even try to make it sound easy to move on. Even when Kevin is trying to tell himself that he has to black it out, there is some sadness to be heard in those lyrics. It’s not blotting out everything and pretending it was never there. It’s attempting to be with the pain without it killing you. The song in a way is hopeful, at least to an extent, because it’s presenting someone who is still trying to pursue the pain.

The section where somebody’s gone and never coming back is the moment of truth of the song. Kevin’s accepting he’s left and not going to come back. It’s hard to explain, but it’s also the start of healing. His words describe how acceptance only comes after dwelling in the blackest of feelings and only after some time.

The most effective thing about the lyrics is how they contrast the quiet moments of remembering and the repeated black it out lines. It’s like Kevin’s mind is incapable of moving past remembering and then forgetting, feeling and then numbing. This is something that everybody experiences after a break-up, and that’s what makes this song seem so real. 

Kevin Driscoll doesn’t hide his pain in metaphors. He just states it, and the fact that it’s so straightforward is what improves the song. Black It Out is more of a breakdown of the ugly, human exercise of attempting to get over someone than it is a song about being dumped. By presenting his struggle in this manner, Kevin makes something incredibly personal into something we can all partake in.