Honestly, Now

While I must insist that I am not in an emo mood at all, I recently discovered this little gem of a song that, on the surface, is almost too easy to call cheesy. But one day I just played my Best of Olivia Newton-John playlist at random and this song came on. Luckily I was in a listening kind of mood. Although I’ve heard this song a hundred times before, it was only then that it dawned on me the impact of the lyrics.

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Maybe I hang around here
A little more than I should,
We both know I got somewhere else to go.
But I got something to tell you
That I never thought I would,
But I believe you really ought to know—
I love you,
I honestly love you.
With a gentle piano intro, the song starts off rather innocently. The way ONJ sings it in a gentle, sweet and almost apologetic manner, it sounds like just one of those “Let-me-say-I-love-you” songs.

You don’t have to answer,
I see it in your eyes;
Maybe it was better left unsaid.
This is pure and simple,
And you should realize
That it’s coming from my heart and not my head.
I love you,
I honestly love you.
I particularly like the “it’s coming from my heart and not my head” line. And who doesn’t know the awkwardness of wanting to tell someone your feelings yet fearing that it’s best left unsaid? It’s that tentativeness that can be infuriatingly addicting to those who love falling in love.

I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable.
I’m not trying to make you anything at all.
But this feeling doesn’t come along everyday,
And you shouldn’t blow the chance
When you’ve got the chance to say:
I love you,
I honestly love you.
By the song’s bridge, the singer goes for the gold. There, it’s out.

But then, whoa!

If we both were born
In another place and time,
This moment might be ending in a kiss.
But there you are with yours,
And here I am with mine,
So I guess we’ll just be leaving it at this.
I love you.
I honestly love you.
I honestly love you.
Suddenly the listeners are thrown in for a loop. “There you are with yours… here I am with mine”?! Ladies and gentlemen, we have now entered Corporate Closet territory, ahahaha! (Sorry CC, luv yah!) It turns out, the two are committed to other people. But unlike CC, the singer just contents herself with blurting out her feelings and leaving them at that.

In a Hollywood movie things won’t be left at that.

In real life, how many can have the discipline and the drama-queen mindset to do an ONJ? Can McVie do an ONJ?

(Maybe not “I Honestly Love You”-ONJ. Maybe more like “Xanadu”-ONJ.)

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For those who want to hear it, here’s Olivia Newton-John’s “I Honestly Love You”:

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