Song Lyric Sunday | “Walking on Broken Glass” – Annie Lennox

Song Lyric Sunday banner

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “glass.”

~~~~~

Walking on Broken Glass was written and performed by Scottish singer Annie Lennox, taken from her 1992 album, Diva. The song reached #1 in Canada, #8 in the United Kingdom and Ireland and #14 in the United States singles charts.

Annie Lennox fans will naturally wonder if Walking on Broken Glass refers to her long, torturous love affair with her ex-Eurythmics partner David Stewart.

The song’s theme of scorned love inspired a classic music video. Director Sophie Muller pulled from period films depicting the late 18th century—including Dangerous Liaisons and Amadeus. Lennox plays an aristocratic lady trying to regain attention from a former lover played by John Malkovich—the star of Dangerous Liaisons. Lennox’s other love interest is played by Hugh Laurie—the future House star played Prince George on the TV comedy Blackadder.

Lennox recalled:

This was a wonderful video to create. There were some wonderful people involved—John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie (before he had an American accent)! That was tremendous fun. The idea of it being a period piece, like Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Lennox saw a parallel between the film—where a noble woman plots to take revenge against an unfaithful lover—and this song:

The alternative title for ‘Broken Glass’ could easily have been ‘Hell hath no more fury than a woman scorned.’ The video is very wry and tongue-in-cheek. People can take me a little seriously sometimes, but I do actually have a rather radical sense of humor.

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.

~~~~~

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

Walking on Broken Glass

by Annie Lennox

Written by Annie Lennox

[Hook]
Walking on walking on broken glass
Walking on walking on broken glass

[Verse 1]
You were the sweetest thing
That I ever knew
But I don’t care for sugar honey
If I can’t have you
Since you’ve abandoned me
My whole life has crashed
Won’t you pick the pieces up
‘Cause it feels just like I’m walking on broken glass

[Hook]
Walking on walking on broken glass
Walking on walking on broken glass

[Verse 2]
The sun’s still shining in the big blue sky
But it don’t mean nothing to me
Oh let the rain come down
Let the wind blow through me
I’m living in an empty room
With all the windows smashed
And I’ve got so little left to lose
That it feels just like I’m walking on broken glass

[Hook]
Walking on walking on broken glass

[Bridge]
And if you’re trying to cut me down
You know that I might bleed
‘Cause if you’re trying to cut me down
I know that you’ll succeed
And if you want to hurt me
There’s nothing left to fear
‘Cause if you want to hurt me
You’re doing really well my dear

[Verse 3]
Now every one of us was made to suffer
Every one of us was made to weep
But we’ve been hurting one another
And now the pain has cut too deep
So take me from the wreckage
Save me from the blast
Lift me up and take me back
Don’t let me keep on walking (don’t let me keep on walking)
I can’t keep on walking (keep on walking on)
Keep on walking on broken glass

[Hook]
Walking on walking on broken glass
Walking on walking on broken glass
Walking on walking on broken glass
Walking on walking on broken glass
Walking on walking on broken glass

Compiled from SongFacts.com, Genius Lyrics, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Google.