The instrumental opening puts the song’s repeating pattern in place before the voice arrives: drums, bass, and guitar figures already define the pace and the recurring hook. Nothing waits for a dramatic entrance; the form begins as a working cycle.

Curtis enters with the first verse at When routine bites hard, setting short, evenly spaced lines against the pattern already established. At about 0:46 the refrain arrives — love will tear us apart again — and immediately repeats, making the title line the song’s first real formal payoff rather than a later climax.

A brief instrumental span clears the vocal line without changing the song’s contract. The second verse begins around 1:05, now narrowing into the bedroom scene and direct address. The refrain returns at about 1:25, confirming that each verse is drawn back to the same title phrase.

The voice drops out for a longer instrumental passage. The established figures continue to do the formal work: this is not a new section by contrast so much as a held space between vocal cycles, extending the song’s pattern before the final verse re-enters.

The last verse begins at You cry out in your sleep, tightening the lyric into exposure and failure. At about 2:24 the refrain returns, but this time it does not stop after the earlier two-statement shape; it repeats again and again, turning the chorus into the song’s closing argument.

After the final refrain, the track stays with the established instrumental material rather than adding a bridge or final vocal change. Around 3:21 the motion releases into the ending gap, closing by withdrawal rather than resolution.