1999's Breathing Tornados marked a new direction for Lee as he introduced synths and increased instrumentation into his sound. The album was a huge success, with the first single, "Cigarettes Will Kill You", finishing second in that year's Triple J Hottest 100. Lee also enjoyed success with the single "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" - from the album hey you. yes you. - reaching no 22 in 2002's Triple J Hottest 100.
In 2001 he joined forces with Evan Dando, Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick and Jason Schwartzman of Phantom Planet and acting fame. Calling themselves Dando Lee Petersson Schwartzman, they recorded a single, "Dead or Anything", at Globe Studios, New York.
During 2003 he teamed up with Ben Kweller and Ben Folds for a side project entitled The Bens. They recorded four songs together in Nashville, resulting in a self-titled EP.
In late 2004, he left Steve Pavlovic's Modular Recordings and started up his own record label, Ten Fingers. The first release on the label was the single, "Gamble Everything For Love", followed by the album, Awake Is The New Sleep in February 2005. A defining release in his career, the album showcased a much brighter, positive side of Lee's personality, in contrast to his previous darker musings. Awake Is The New Sleep received several nominations for the 2005 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, and Lee won Best Male Artist, Best Independent Release, and Single Of The Year for "Catch My Disease". Catch My Disease was also number 2 on the 2005 Triple J Hottest 100.
In September 2007, Lee released his sixth solo album, named "Ripe" after the final song on the record. The album is somewhat controversial, with most songs relating in some way to sex, lust and love. Mandy Moore features on the album in the song "Birds and Bees", and Benji Madden plays electric guitar in "Sex Without Love". It also features Sara Watkins, Rachael Yamagata, Charlotte Martin, Ned Bower, Taylor Locke and Robert Schwatzman (who is also credited for co-writing 'Sex Without Love'). It was a big step away from the spiritual "Awake is the New Sleep", but shows Lee's need for change in songs. The album was produced by John Alagia and released under the Inertia/Ten Fingers label 'Awake is the New Sleep' was released under.
February 2009 brought the release of his latest LP entitled "The Rebirth of Venus." This release also includes a bonus disk that includes six cover songs that Ben has done including "Kids" by MGMT and "New Wave" by Against Me!.
How to Survive a Broken Heart
Ben Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And now it's just a lesson I can't grasp
So what's really the best that I could do
To hope to see you every year or two
And the things you said
Do they still make sense
Could you mean them now
I could torture myself insane and tense
But I don't have the strength
I'm crushed in pain you drifted through my life
But even looking back I know it's right
I gave you my heart scared complete and whole
When all you ever asked for was my soul
And there's nothing left
But a song or two
That mean not a thing
If I can't play them for you
If I could hear your voice just one more time
Maybe I'd be fine
But I guess I won't
Cause it's too late now
And I guess you're gone
Cause it's too late now
And the pain I feel
Is all I can take
Maybe this turn of karma
Is too late
Maybe I was wrong
Maybe I was caught in a net of passion
Maybe I was caught
Maybe I should take it all with salt
And soon I'll believe that it's not my fault
And it's not my fault [Repeat: x6]
If I say it enough
I'll believe that it's not my fault
The lyrics to Ben Lee's song How to Survive a Broken Heart depict the emotions one feels after a heartbreak. The singer is unable to let go of the past and is struggling to come to terms with the lesson that the heartbreak was meant to teach. The chorus implies that the singer is trying to make peace with the fact that he may not see his former lover regularly and is struggling to find meaning in their memories. The second verse is more introspective, with the singer questioning the things his partner said to him during the relationship, trying to make sense of them and questioning whether they had any real meaning.
The singer is also grappling with the fact that his partner was not as invested in the relationship as he was, and that he was more vulnerable than he needed to be. The bridge of the song is both an acceptance of the reality of the situation and a rejection of self-blame. The singer makes peace with the fact that the relationship is over, but struggles to accept that he was not at fault for its failure. The repeated line "it's not my fault" is an affirmation that the singer is trying to tell himself, hoping that with enough repetition, he will eventually believe it.
Line by Line Meaning
I should let this go but I just can't
I know I should move on, but I can't seem to do it.
And now it's just a lesson I can't grasp
This heartbreak is a lesson I can't understand or learn from.
So what's really the best that I could do
What can I do to make things better for myself?
To hope to see you every year or two
Maybe seeing you once in a while would ease the pain.
And the things you said
Do the things you said still matter?
Do they still make sense
Do those things you said make sense now?
Could you mean them now
Do those words still hold value?
Did you even mean them then
Did you mean what you said, or did you say it casually?
I could torture myself insane and tense
I can't take this pain and suffering anymore.
But I don't have the strength
I don't have the strength to continue to grieve.
I'm crushed in pain you drifted through my life
Your appearance in my life came with devastation and hurt.
But even looking back I know it's right
Despite the hurt, I know it's better for us to not be together.
I gave you my heart scared complete and whole
I gave you everything I had to offer, leaving myself vulnerable.
When all you ever asked for was my soul
You only wanted my devotion and not my love.
And there's nothing left
There's nothing remaining from our relationship.
But a song or two
There are only a few memories left.
That mean not a thing
Those memories do not have any significance anymore.
If I can't play them for you
If I can't share those memories with you, then they don't matter.
If I could hear your voice just one more time
Even hearing your voice would help ease my pain.
Maybe I'd be fine
Maybe hearing your voice would allow me to heal.
But I guess I won't
Unfortunately, that won't happen.
Cause it's too late now
It's too late to fix us.
And I guess you're gone
You are not a part of my life anymore.
And the pain I feel
The weight of the heartbreak is unbearable.
Is all I can take
This hurt is too much for me to bear.
Maybe this turn of karma
Maybe this heartbreak is what I deserve.
Maybe I was wrong
Maybe I was the reason for the end of our relationship.
Maybe I was caught in a net of passion
Maybe the passion clouded my judgement.
Maybe I was caught
Maybe I was trapped in our relationship without seeing the reality.
Maybe I should take it all with salt
Maybe I should take their actions as a grain of salt, as they couldn't understand my love.
And soon I'll believe that it's not my fault
I will keep repeating it to myself that maybe it's not my fault.
And it's not my fault [Repeat: x6]
It's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's not my fault...
If I say it enough
If I keep repeating it
I'll believe that it's not my fault
I will start believing that it's not my fault
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BENJAMIN MICHAEL LEE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind