page_title: Breakin' Point (song)
section_title: Composition and lyrics
hierarchical_section_title: Breakin' Point (song) / Composition and lyrics
caption_attribution_description: English: Peter Bjorn and John at the Immergut Festival 2016. Cropped version of File:Peter_Bjorn_and_John_immergut_02.jpg.
context_page_description: "Breakin' Point" is a song by Swedish band Peter Bjorn and John from their seventh studio album Breakin' Point. It was released on 25 March 2016 through PBJ Musik and Ingrid as the album's second single. Written by the band and produced by Emile Haynie, "Breakin' Point" is a midtempo pop song with lyrics alluding to the protagonist's concerns about expecting a child. It features a whistling intro, which the band were initially hesitant to include as their breakthrough single "Young Folks" had a similar composition. They eventually decided "Breakin' Point" would represent a fitting tribute as it was conceived near the ten-year anniversary of "Young Folks".
  Music critics were generally positive towards "Breakin' Point" and noted its catchiness. Commercially, the single only appeared below the top 50 of the Wallonian Ultratip chart. A remix by Swedish band Miike Snow was also released. The song's accompanying music video was shot in Poland on several locations, including Wolin National Park. It was directed by Danish-Norwegian duo HochR, who took inspiration from the rivers of Hades in the underworld from Greek mythology, particularly the river Styx.
context_section_description: "Breakin' Point" is a midtempo pop song. It features instrumentation provided by drums, an electric bass, a guitar, percussion, a piano, a synthesizer, and a zither. The song begins with siren-like whistles and a high-pitched piano. Rose Kerr of Spectrum Culture observed the song's "darker" beat in contrast to its whimsy provided by whistles and a "backing youth chorus". Gregory Adams of Exclaim! interpreted the whistling melody as "slightly sorrowful", and Bill Pearis of BrooklynVegan called the record a "melancholic anthem". Adams suggested the lyrics speak of  "pondering life on the couch", manifested in the line "What to do, what to say" sung in the verse. Clash's Will Butler viewed the lyric "Got it from whisky like any loser can" as Morén "tacitly" evoking a "part-Hunter S. Thompson, part-Brian Wilson persona".
  Regarding its lyrical theme, Morén told Stereogum it has several meanings, "It's about waiting for new things coming ahead that will leave the past in the dust or at least make it look very different. About mental and physical adjustment. About kids becoming parents and maybe about growing up. About perspective, balance and seeing things for what they might actually be and not blown up to grotesque proportions." While the album's title refers to a breaking point where the band felt they might not finish the album and break up instead, Morén explained to Esquire that the breaking point in the title track alludes to becoming a parent. He said, "You feel directionless, you're burned out on life, and wondering what this kid will do to me—fuck me up more or enlighten me?" Regarding the lyrical connection between the song and "Young Folks", he called its story of expecting a child a "quite deliberate perspective from meeting a new lover at a bar, which is what 'Young Folks' was about".
caption: Peter Morén explained that "Breakin' Point" was inspired by his concerns about expecting a child.
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