SexyBack

“SexyBack” is the upbeat Justin Timberlake song played at Paul Copeland and Lucy’s wedding. Its refrain about bringing sexy back becomes the cue for the novel’s final dance: after a day shadowed by death and grief, Paul joins Lucy and Cara on the floor, and their laughter gives the celebration its closing note.

The Song at the Wedding

The song enters during the reception, a large celebration with a band and dancing after the governor presides over Paul and Lucy’s wedding. Paul has already spent a brief moment alone, loosening his bow tie and unbuttoning his tuxedo shirt. He reflects on the day’s passage from death to a joyful union, but finds no grand meaning in that contrast. Instead, he listens to the band play an up-tempo number by Justin Timberlake while watching the guests attempt to dance.

The refrain is described as silly, a tonal counterweight to the day’s heavier events. “SexyBack” does not resolve Paul’s thoughts about grief or turn the wedding into an answer to loss. It supplies a song and a rhythm in the middle of a celebration whose happiness exists alongside his awareness of another family’s suffering.

From Solitude to the Dance Floor

Paul’s moment alone gives way when Cara approaches and asks him to dance. He rises; Cara then pulls Lucy away from well-wishers and onto the dance floor, bringing the new family together in a simple, public gesture. The song’s repeated refrain accompanies the change from Paul’s inward attention to movement shared with his daughter and new bride.

Paul dances hard and badly, flapping his arms, twisting his hips, sweating, and spinning. The guests clap to encourage him, while Lucy and Cara laugh. Their response matters more than any polished performance: hearing their laughter, Paul dances even harder, until his attention narrows to the two faces before him and the sound they make together.

The Refrain’s Closing Role

The scene sets the wedding’s joy against Paul’s thoughts about Neil Cordova, who has just been overwhelmed by the news of Reba’s death. Paul has held Neil as he sobbed; later, at the reception, he remembers the crushing blow Neil and his daughters are facing. The song does not erase that sorrow. Rather, its place in the finale lets grief remain present while Paul accepts, for the moment, the life and laughter immediately around him.

“SexyBack” therefore functions less as a statement about the song’s broader meaning than as the audible trigger for the novel’s closing family image. The refrain, the awkward dancing, and the women’s laughter carry the ending from Paul’s solitary reflection into connection. The final emphasis falls not on the lyric itself, but on Paul dancing with Lucy and Cara and responding to their joy.