INTRODUCTION
‘To Break In A Glove’ is a song performed by Larry and Evan in the second act, making it track 9 in the OBC recording. Many people dislike the song, which is totally valid, but many people also refuse to search for its underlying message, which is what I will be exploring in this fortnights:
You are viewing: How To Break In A Glove Dear Evan Hansen
If you don’t want to read all the nitty gritty things I’ve noticed about the song, jump down to the subtitle ‘The Meaning’, and if something doesn’t make sense in ‘The Breakdown’ it’s explained under ‘The Meaning’.
Disclaimer: This blog is includes my own opinions! You are 100% allowed to have your own views on the topic! The breakdown of lyrics are purely based off of my opinions and analysis of the song, you are more than welcome to add or correct me in the comments, as long as it’s done so respectively!
THE BREAKDOWN
Larry’s character performs the song’s verses in such a way which expresses excitement and passion, as if he had been holding onto this advice for years on end, waiting for someone to ask him. This song brings so much character development to Larry, as at the beginning of the musical he comes across as a careless person who almost gave up on everyone, but in this song, it’s almost as if he is a completely different character.
“This glove’s really cool, wow,”
“Oh, why don’t you take it?”
“Oh no, no, I couldn’t,”
“Why not?”
“Are you sure?”
The song begins with an upbeat tone, starting with dialogue to bring a small amount of context to the song itself. The dialog is then followed by the following lyrics;
“I bought this glove a thousand years ago
For some birthday or some Christmas that has come and gone
I thought we might play catch or, I don’t know
But he left it in the bag, with the tag still on.”
This implies, just like the mention of the airplane in For Forever (dialog), Larry at one point had been involved in Connor’s life. It’s obvious throughout the show that Larry and Connor had drifted apart and lacked the father/son interactions between one another; but we’ll get into that later.
When it comes down to the pre-chorus and chorus, we notice a very slight change in the whole mood of the song, the lyrics actually sung rather than being a mix between spoken and sung.
“And though this method isn’t easy,
Every second that you spend is gonna pay off,
It’ll pay off in the end.”
These are the lyrics of the pre-chorus we hear, while some may dismiss these as a way of expressing how time consuming it is to break in a baseball glove, it has a much deeper meaning, as does the song as a whole, but that’s another thing I’ll get into later on.
“And though this method isn’t easy,”
And though the method of taking time to speak to someone isn’t easy, to open up and express your emotions…
Every second that you spend is gonna pay off,
It’ll pay off in the end.”
Read more : How Many Gold Gloves Joe Panik Have
Every second you get help, each time you reach out and every bit of struggle you endure, it will pay off in the end.
The chorus comes across much more calm and reassuring, I imagine this as the words in which Larry would have tried to tell Connor, yet, he wouldn’t listen. So here he is reciting the same thing to Evan, who is willing to listen.
“It just takes a little patience,
It takes a little time,
A little perseverance,
And a little uphill climb.”
“You might not think it’s worth it,
You might begin to doubt,
But you can’t take any shortcuts,
You gotta stick it out.”
Larry’s telling Evan here, that the hardest way often turns out to be the right way to do something. This can be interpreted in multiple different ways, for example, putting it in Evans point of view, it’s hard to tell the Murphy family this was made up, but it’ll be the right thing to do. But again- there’s another meaning…
“And it’s the hard way,
But it’s the right way,”
These lines are dragged out, specifically because the next line;
”The right way to break in a glove,”
Returns us back to the upbeat tempo. I believe this is written like this because we as an audience don’t get time to dwell on the idea of this being about Connor and parenting- just like changing a conversation when it gets too uncomfortable. These lyrics also help transition into the second verse.
These lyrics are EXTREMELY important and are further explained down in ‘The Meaning’, but let’s just read through them, and pay attention as to how Larry expresses the other ways to break in a glove;
“With something like this,
you gotta be ready to put in the work,
Make the commitment.
So what do you think?”
“I mean, definitely,”
Some people say just use a microwave,
Or try that run it through hot water technique,
Well, they can gloat about the time they saved,
‘Til they gotta buy another glove next week,”
Read more : How To Keep Hockey Gloves Dry
THIS VERSE IS IMPORTANT! We’ll come back to that in ‘The Meaning’. Let’s fast forward a little to the bridge, another VERY important part to the song.
”’Cause there’s a right way in everything you do,
Keep that grit,
Follow through,”
Larry believes, there is a right way for everything you do, and once you find that way, you stick to it, and follow through with that method and/or idea no matter what other people say.
“Even when everyone around you thinks you’re crazy,
Even when everyone around you lets things go.
And whether you’re prepping for some test,
Or you’re miles from some goal.
Or you’re just trying to do what’s best…”
This is once again pushing the idea that Larry had the idea that there is only one way to do something, no matter what the situation is.
”For a kid who’s lost control,”
This line is the line which is performed with so much power and emotion, as if Larry’s character is screaming this line, like he knew what he was doing to Connor yet was so confused as to why it wouldn’t work. There’s so much emotion behind this line, sadness, anger, betrayal, confusion. It leaves us as an audience with almost an empty feeling with the next lines, like we had been winded from the lyrics (I sure as hell was when I first listened to the song).
The rest of the song is the downfall from its peak of suspense, giving the audience a very short amount of time to actually dwell on those lyrics in the bridge, but not enough time to exactly overanalyze it, because we’re met with the change of tempo once more, giving back that feeling of ‘awkward conversation changes’.
THE MEANING
What many people miss is the underlying message of the song. Not only does it tell Evan how to ‘break in a glove’, and how doing the hard thing is the right thing (which many people notice but don’t look beyond), we also get a piece of Larry’s views and struggles with Connor’s mental health. It’s a metaphor. For those of you who haven’t exactly heard this statement (most definitely NOT a theory) before, here’s what I mean by ‘it’s a metaphor’;
Some fathers or male figures (not all) have strong opinions on how something is to be done. For example, one way to clean a car, cook eggs, earn money, etc. though there are always multiple possibilities as to how these things can be done. There is more than one way to break in a glove, but Larry insists that there is only one right way, and it’s the best way.
Now, let’s put this into the perspective of Connor and Larry’s relationship. Throughout the musical, Larry expresses little to no remorse for Connor (that we know of- this can be linked to the different types of grieving as explained in a previous post of mine here), however, this song tells the audience as to why Larry did those things, treated him the way he did. Because Larry truly believed that it was the ‘hard way’ but ‘the right way’, just as possibly your parents believe in grounding you after something you’ve done wrong, it’s a hard thing to do, but the right thing to teach you the lesson.
Larry truly 100% believes he tried and did his best for Connor, for the kid who lost control. This is also stated in ‘Requiem’ in the lyrics ‘I gave you the world, you threw it away’. There had been a lack of communication in the family, while Larry was doing what he believed was best for Connor’s recovery, it wouldn’t work for Connor at all, and in the musical it isn’t made evident that Connor tried to communicate, so Larry stuck to what he believed was the best thing to do, what he believed was right.
There was many ways that Larry could approach Connor and his mental health- or just Connor in general, yet he was so strong with his beliefs, no matter what he did, he believed it was the right thing to do to help Connor.
OPINIONS
I will defend this song with my life. No questions about it. Though it’s definitely not my favorite, I think it’s one of the best songs apart of the album because there’s so, so much more to it than meets the ear.
There is so much character development in the song that many people don’t know about. It not only shows Larry having the chance to feel like an actual father once more, it also tells the audience as to why and how Larry would address Connor. So many people overlook this, dismissing the song as being ‘pointless’ and ‘so stupid- it shouldn’t be in the final cut’. Well, Stephanie from Walmart, I have you know there is so much more to the beautiful, metaphorical, and stunning piece of work you listen to that you just haven’t noticed.
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What are your opinions on the song? Is there anything I missed? Let me know in the comments! Do you agree or disagree? Let me know! Let’s start a discussion!
MY NAME IS TYLER, AND THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TEDTALK.
#bc3
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Category: HOW
