The Meaning Behind “Indecision” by Rex Orange County feat. Daniel Caesar and the Duo’s Mutual Heartbreaks

Rex Orange County and Daniel Caesar have returned with another collaboration on the new single, “Indecision”. Last year, the duo released a pair of singles, “Rearrange My World” and There’s A Field (That’s Only Yours)”.

The new song, a Beatles-inspired acoustic ditty, finds Rex Orange County, born Alexander O’Connor, and Caesar contemplating ending their respective relationships. Though they navigate separate romantic anxieties, they each end up in the same broken-hearted place. And the music video finds them alone in a field, singing on a dirt road with neither partner anywhere in sight.

At least they have each other to share the combined miseries.

Behind the Lyrics

Uncertainty hangs over the relationship, so O’Connor suggests a breakup. He wonders whether his partner will move on or collapse without him.

Let me know, let me know,
Is it getting to that time for me to go?
I guess we’re stuck in indecision.
If I leave, would you collapse or keep on living?

In the verse, Caesar acknowledges the couple has likely grown apart. He’s hanging on to the way he once felt. And he isn’t sure he’ll find someone else with enough patience for him.

Hanging onto feelings in my rearview, I can’t let them go.
You said you’d be with me for all time.
We were naive, we were young, we were green,
Now that we’re older, it’s harder to believe,
I’d find someone new to put up with me.

Then O’Connor returns and finds his partner has indeed moved on with someone else. Now he’s the one collapsing, and he feels guilty for having ruined the relationship.

Oh, you slipped right through my fingertips.
Fell from my arms into his, what a son of a b***h,
Oh God, I have to sabotage.

I Ran Amok

Together, O’Connor and Caesar sing the final refrain. Their chaos pushed the other person away. Perhaps the partner was thinking the same thing all along. When O’Connor proposed the breakup at the beginning of the song, it gave his partner the opening to split.

I ran amok, I should’ve listened,
’Cause soon as I leave,
You’ll run off to be with him.

Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images