Songwriters fall in love and lose their edge and get it back with interest when the romance is over. Lovett's breakup with Julia Roberts was civil, even according to the one-sided story he's telling: she was lovely, he was charming; she was sweet, he was a gentleman; she said things, he said things; that was that. Funny, oblique and still audibly heartbroken -- like the man says, "It ought to be easier / To leave when you know that you have to go."

Angela Gunn