Grand and glorious from the start, this mid-tempo, piano-driven rocker finds Flowers paired with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, and they make a charming, arresting couple indeed, their “ohhhs” and “ahhs” melting together like chocolate and peanut butter amid a wash of ameliorating Cure-like keyboards.

Spirited as it is musically, the lyrics read like letters never sent, ones locked away in a bureau. Addressing Lewis, his lover in the song, Flowers recites, “You let me into your life unaware/ there was magic and fire in the night/ and back then I was just a little boy/ I made mistakes that caused you so much pain/ all I know is that I’m older now.”

Dueting on the chorus, Flowers and Lewis sing, "And this has been hard enough on you/ I know it's been hard enough on me/ I'm telling myself that I can roll with the changes/ and when the water gets high above your head, darlin' don't you fear/ this has been hard enough on you/ it's been hard enough on me."

It’s sweet but not saccharine, melancholy but not mawkish. Halfway through, drummer Darren Beckett quickens the the pace, and near the end, Daniel Lanois (who shared in the writing but not the production; Stuart Price and Flowers are listed as producers) lays down a brief, poignant guitar line, the kind that leaves you breathless and hoping for more.

Listen: Brandon Flowers - Hard Enough