Is it just me or is Delicate such a good Lovett/Tommy song?
delicate isabsolutely a song about tommy, fresh from being pilloried for his “dudethat was two years ago” moment, ducking into a dive bar where maybe he canspend five minutes not feeling angry and ashamed and like he let everyone down.obviously that’s the bar where au!lovett got a job after dropping out of lawschool to try writing for real. so lovett brings tommy a drink and talks to himlike tommy isn’t an asshole and laughs at him for blissfully non-benghazirelated reasons. what a relief that lovett doesn’t know who tommy is, that hedoesn’t follow the news on an insanely detailed level.
meanwhile,lovett can tell from the flashes of fear behind tommy’s eyes and the way hisface sometimes goes completely blank that there’s a story there, but he doesn’tprobe any further in case the story is a life in the closet, in case the storyis how close tommy is to not coming in the door every friday night anymore.gotta be cool if tommy says yes when lovett invites him back to his apartment.gotta be chill if they end up kissing against a wall halfway there. still, it’shard not to say how he feels when tommy whispers “i like you” andthen flinches, like he just told a state secret, like he’s bracing for theirfragile life in the dark to be taken away.









