One morning while driving to work I was switching stations on the radio and stumbled upon an old song that I used to hear a lot back in the 70s. It’s by Don McLean, he of the “American Pie” fame. “If We Try” was not as huge a hit as the drove my Chevy to the levy ditty, but it resonated with me more. And after recent events, the song became more haunting to me nowadays.
When I see you on the street,
I lose my concentration.
Just the thought that we might meet
creates anticipation.
Won’t you look my way once before you go
and my eyes will say what you ought to know.
Well I’ve been thinkin’ about you day and night...
and I don’t know if it’ll work out right...
but somehow I think that it just might...
if we try.
The song starts as a paean to longing, hoping and wishful thinking. The simplicity of the words match the simplicity of the feelings they evoke.
Faces come and faces go in circular rotation.
But something yearns within to grow
beyond infatuation.
Won’t you look my way once before you go
and my eyes will say what you ought to know.
Well you’ve got me standin’ deaf and blind...
cause I see love as just a state of mind...
and who knows what it is that we might find...
if we try.
The author asks for the simplest things: that they meet and perhaps she notices him. How very childish and innocent, right? But then comes the bridge, and along with a shift in tempo is also a curious shift in the lyrics.
You’re walking a different direction from most people I’ve met.
You’re givin’ me signs of affection I don’t usually get.
I don’t want you to pledge your future;
the future’s not yours to give.
Just stand there a little longer
and let me watch while you live.
“I don’t want you to pledge your future, the future’s not yours to give” is a sentiment that’s more mature than most; the usual line would be usually be like, “please let me be your future!” or something similar. But then the next line, “Just stand there a little longer and let me watch while you live” shifts back to a sweet sentiment that’s endearing in its naïveté.
The song then ends with the author repeating his hope, that despite the possibility of failure, “somehow I think that it just might if we try”.
After 21-yr old I thought I’d take a break from heart matters. But then suddenly _____ came along and now when I see him on YM, I lose my concentration. Where will it lead with _____? Who knows. All I know is, my mantra these days is simple: non-exclusive, elusive. Let me try and see if _____ is worth staying around for.
For those too young to know the song, here’s “If We Try” by Don McLean:
1 comment:
Cute song. As for that *Love* stuff. I don't think about it as much as I used to. It's way too addictive. Good Luck with your new boilalu!
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