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In 2008, British band Elbow released the majestic Seldom Seen Kid, an album that was lauded by critics and was later awarded the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. It’s leading single Grounds for Divorce was as an ode to unhappy relationships, being driven to drink, doubting one’s decision, separating belongings and, ultimately, the foul and spiteful side of an acrimonious divorce. The song’s lyrics may seem cryptic when viewed at a glance, but much of the symbolism is apparent when it is afforded due consideration. Consider: “doubt comes in on sticks, but then he kicks like a horse,” I have yet to find a better metaphor for the way in which people will question their relationship and placate their own doubts before realising that a divorce or separation really is needed. Likewise, the line “and I bring you further roses, but it does you no good” describes how the marriage cannot be salvaged in spite of the couple’s best efforts, the roses serving as a simile for in-depth conversations, counselling and attempts to resolve matters. Then, there’s how the divorce is driving the story’s narrator to drink, describing a hole in his neighbourhood into which he cannot help but fall; a reference to an underground pub in the band’s hometown of Manchester and the need to sooth the pain of divorce, a trend that is also alluded to with the song’s opening line: “I’ve been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce.” There is more to this tale than that which is recounted through it lyrics, though. The heavy percussion and driving guitar riff are sufficiently loud to – in this amateur musicologist’s opinion – convey the brutal nature of a rancorous divorce; the sort of noise that clouds a divorcee’s thoughts preventing them from thinking rationally. Grounds for Divorce refrains from referring to heartbreak, lost love or any other maudlin sentiment so frequently associated with divorce. Here, Elbow portray a harsh divorce, one that would leave neither spouse with any positive feelings towards the other. Grounds for Divorce is a gritty depiction of divorce that, when placed next to second single taken from The Seldom Seen Kid forms a continuing narrative. One Day Like This, unlike its predecessor, discusses the happiness that its narrator feels upon waking home and seeing a beautiful day outside. Much like, I have no doubt, the joyous feeling that comes about following the conclusion of a discordant divorce and the prospects that it brings.