Distance

I thought the song "Distance" by Christina Perri would work well with "Joe."

In the song, she sings:

I'll give you everything I am

All my broken heartbeats

Until I know you'll understand

And I will make sure to keep my distance

Say "I love you" when you're not listening

And how long can we keep this up up up?

I feel like the characters in the story all kept their distance from each other. Foer says things like "Joe can hear his wife in the garden. Why won't she come in and sit with him? He thinks about writing a letter to someone he hasn't been in touch with for years. He thinks about phoning a wrong number, or his daughter." Why doesn't Joe just go out and ask his wife to come in and sit with him? They seem to have a detached relationship, but "He's been married for thirty-seven years" so I don't understand why they seem so distant. (I think it's the same kind of thing with Joe and his daughter.) Foer says "Joe and I know each other less and less as time passes." In "Distance," Christina Perri sings about how she is keeping her distance from the person she loves. She won't admit how she feels about that person, but she'll watch from afar waiting for the time she can confess her feelings. In "Joe," I feel like the characters aren't able to say how they feel about each other either. If they can't talk, they can't share their feelings, so they would have to "Say 'I love you' when [they're] not listening" if they can even say "I love you" at all. Joe and his wife must love each other if they've been married for so long, but they don't seem to be able to communicate very well. "How long can [they] keep this up?"

P.S. If you like this song, you'll probably like other songs by Christina Perri. I definitely recommend her.