‘Music And Lyrics’ (2007) Is The Superior Rom-Com

The early aughts were a golden age of romantic comedies. Actresses like Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, and Jennifer Lopez routinely made the rounds in the genre with films like The Proposal (2009), Legally Blonde (2001), and Maid in Manhattan (2002), delivering feel-good stories about all of the comedic scenarios that two people in a budding relationship might find themselves in as they fall in love. The rom-com finds forward movement through the use of tropes like a secret billionaire, a fake dating scheme, or a love triangle. Marc Lawrence’s entry into the genre, Music and Lyrics (2007), ticks all the boxes of a classic rom-com as it takes love interests Alex Fletcher and Sophie Fisher through all the ups and downs of new love.

But oftentimes, the rom-com’s central tropes center on the main characters keeping secrets, frequently miscommunicating and withholding the truth. Early romantic comedies like William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It employ such acts of secrecy and miscommunication, suggesting that the genre has always relied on otherwise troubling (and in some cases, harmful) acts to function. Music and Lyrics, though, shines in comparison. Where other rom-coms find comedy through convoluted schemes and secrecy, Music and Lyrics finds enjoyment in Alex and Sophie’s quest for authenticity with each other as they write “A Way Back Into Love.”

It Is A Second Chance Rom-Com

On the outside, Music and Lyrics is an unassuming, simplistic “second chance” rom-com about washed-up eighties musician Alex and aspiring writer Sophie falling in love as they attempt to write a song for a huge pop artist. But what makes Music and Lyrics so different is how the story is hinged on radical honesty and truth, present in the film because of the medium of songwriting. The song they write for pop singer Cora Corman, “A Way Back Into Love,” is the vehicle for Alex and Sophie’s total honesty with each other because of the emotional intimacy that comes with baring your soul through music. 

The second chance rom-com trope allows for the most openness and honesty between the two love interests. The trope can have 1) the two love interests be estranged from each other before fate brings them together for a second chance at their relationship or 2) one or both of the love interests be badly hurt by love in the past before meeting this new, ideal match for their second chance at romance. Music and Lyrics falls under the latter. Since both characters in this trope have been hurt by love before, they are quicker to voice discomfort and avoid another heartbreak. It allows the love interest(s) to confront relationship problems openly and enter a healthier relationship based on honesty.

In Music and Lyrics, Alex and Sophie have both been hurt by relationships in the past. Though not romantic, Alex is still hung up on Colin, his former lyricist from PoP!, breaking up the band. Throughout the first act of the film, he insists that he cannot write a song without Colin and has the poor-selling solo record to prove it. Sophie on the other hand has a more traditional second chance backstory: her former professor Sloan Cates lied about his engagement to be in a relationship with her and after their chaotic break-up, he slandered her in a book-inspired by their affair and attacked her abilities as a writer. She takes what he says about her writing – that she is a mimic with no originality – to heart and gives up her dreams of being a writer. Alex and Sophie don’t pursue music and writing for years; at least, that’s until they meet each other and get a second chance at love and pursuing their craft.

It Preaches Radical Honesty & Authenticity

From the very beginning of Music and Lyrics, Alex and Sophie are totally honest and open with each other about their hang-ups, heartbreaks, and insecurities. Their emotional vulnerability with each other is so refreshing considering the troubling hallmarks of other rom-coms where the conceit is a ruse or miscommunication. Whenever Sophie gets in her head about Sloan’s admonishment of her writing, Alex is there to pick her up and praise her abilities. Similarly, Alex’s insecurities about being a has-been and a shallow lyricist are matched by Sophie’s praise of his melodies and her desire for him to be authentic, money and prestige be damned. The two establish their relationship by being open and communicating with each other because, without it, they cannot write songs together.

In their meet-cute, while she waters his plants, Alex is blown away when Sophie can come up with a clever lyric on the spot and tells her not to minimize her abilities. When Alex notices Sophie reacting negatively to Sloan Cates’ face in a bookstore window and inquires how he can help her “be sane,” Sophie reveals how her relationship with Sloan Cates and his novel Sally Michaels traumatized her. Alex invites her to be vulnerable and doesn’t seek to minimize the abuse and trauma she went through — he uplifts her by arguing that writing a hit song will impact and touch far more people than any of Sloan’s books. 

When the pair run into Sloan at a restaurant, Alex encourages Sophie to confront Sloan and tell him all about the song she wrote. After he gets into a fight with Sloan defending her integrity, he tells her to stop hiding behind Sally Michaels and embrace every part of herself; she praises him for being so sensitive and they consummate their relationship, suggesting that the radical honesty between them is what allows their romance to flourish. Even when Alex delivers a hurtful jab to Sophie where he claims she acts exactly like Sally Michaels and their relationship is at an impasse, he reaffirms her talent and says she deserves more than writing advertisements.

Alex frequently brings up that he cannot write without Colin and that his lyrics were all too shallow. He dismisses the songs he writes as trivial, calling them “dessert” in comparison to bands like The Beatles, who he calls “dinner.” Despite all his praise of pop music’s ability to touch people and make them happy, the dismissal of his own music makes it clear he feels ashamed and insecure about writing in the genre. Similar to how Alex corrects her insecurities about writing, Sophie tells Alex that he’s better than just being “dessert” when he says “A Way Back Into Love” doesn’t matter since it’s just pop music. 

When Alex has a bad show at Adventureland, Sophie reminds him that he’s making people happy with his music — it doesn’t matter if only a small group of people care, she likes his melodies and their catchiness. In a similar scene after Sophie confesses she listened to Alex’s solo album, she reminds him that writing a song is about being yourself and not making a hit. She desperately wants him to be his most authentic self. The reciprocity of support and honesty between Sophie and Alex as their relationship develops makes their relationship feel genuine Music and Lyrics shows that a rom-com relationship doesn’t have to be all secret billionaires or fake relationships to be engaging or heart-wrenching; it can be full of support, vulnerability, and authenticity and be just as romantic.

The Music Brings It All Together!

When she and Alex first start writing, Sophie explains to him her philosophy of songwriting: the melody is the immediate attraction (she likens it to sex) you feel when you first meet someone while the lyrics are the emotional connection that you feel when you get to know them. “A Way Back Into Love” not just encapsulates Music and Lyrics’ status as a second chance rom-com — it’s literally a song about wanting to find another chance at love after a heartbreak — the writing process perfectly crystallizes Sophie’s metaphor. Alex has the melody written almost right away, but the process of writing the lyrics comes only as Alex and Sophie get to know each other and share their insecurities about past relationships, both professional and personal. As the two gain more emotional intimacy, the lyrics begin to flow – it’s no shock that the night Cora accepts the song, the pair consummate their relationship.

The song-writing element of the plot drives home the story’s celebration of radical honesty and authenticity in a relationship. When Alex and Sophie are writing songs and talking about their emotions, they thrive; when they begin to shut down and miscommunicate, their relationship suffers. Alex and Sophie temporarily break up when Alex tells Cora that she can remix the intimate, soft-pop rock ballad he and Sophie wrote and make it a “steamy and sticky” dance song. He panders to Cora, worried that he will lose the job if he doesn’t let her transform the song however she wants; Sophie criticizes this and tells him to stand up for himself. Unlike other rom-coms that thrive on miscommunication and hiding the truth, lying and pandering are punished in Music and Lyrics. 

Alex bares his soul to Sophie in a song he wrote for her and confesses to Cora that keeping “A Way Back Into Love” soft and intimate will help him win back Sophie. This honesty is the only way the two love interests can be together again – proving that radical honesty and authenticity are the backbones of any successful relationship. Alex’s song for Sophie, “Don’t Write Me Off Just Yet,” is a confessional: he apologizes for hurting her feelings and asks her for one more chance. Sophie calls the song the “dinner” that she knew Alex was capable of writing all along and they reunite, all because Alex stopped worrying about writing a hit and wrote what was real to him. When the characters of Music and Lyrics are honest with each other, love and respect follow. It is an uplifting message that centers on healthy relationships and radical honesty with your romantic partner.

Make It Your Valentine’s Movie

What makes Music and Lyrics endlessly rewatchable is its prioritization of honesty and authenticity between its characters. Watching Sophie and Alex write “A Way Back Into Love” together is not just amusing, but also offers a glimpse of what the rom-com can look like when there isn’t constant miscommunication between the two love interests.

It’s the superior rom-com because Sophie and Alex don’t feel ashamed for being emotionally vulnerable about their insecurities with each other; they support each other and correct self-obsessive intrusive thoughts about their abilities as writers and musicians; they find the second chance they deserve in each other because their relationship is built on that foundation of radical honesty and the need for authenticity. So whether you’re single, in a relationship, or looking for a way back into love this Valentine’s Day, Music and Lyrics is a heartwarming rom-com that gives us all hope that we can have the love we deserve.