The Promise

I see it as a very lovely song, a song about true love. I think it also paints a picture of the evolving relationship of the man and the woman he's singing to. It starts out with him being inexplicably attracted to this woman. He spends his days pining for her, but he's a very shy person, so he has trouble approaching her and telling her how feels. He's afraid she won't see him the way he sees her. The line "If you need a friend, don't look to a stranger, you know in the end, I'll always be there.", suggests that he is already friends with this woman, and wants to be more, but is too shy to tell her. This is what is meant by "I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say...I'll make you fall for me...he's already fallen for her, but now he just needs to make sure she feels the same.

Eventually, they do realize they are both in love with each other, and this is the part of the relationship where they are together and very happy, and wish things would stay like that forever. But then comes a stormy time in their lives. I believe that's what is meant by the line "Sometimes if I shout, it's not what's intended, these words just come out, with no cross to bear", this is where some people think it's negative, but I don't believe that is what's meant at all. The line that comes right before that is "When your day is through, and so is your temper, this implies that they are going through a more stressful time in their lives, and that when she comes home from work, she's so stressed out that she yells at him, and he yells back, but then regrets it because he never wants to hurt her feelings, even though she takes out her frustration and stress on him. It then goes back to the earlier lines of the songs, but now the words "I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say are a promise to her, just like they were in the beginning, basically that they are in it for the long haul and their love is strong and unbreakable.

His promise to her is that just like from when he first met her, he will always love her, even if she feels that her life is falling into shambles and that he feels her going apart from him, he still loves her deeply, and that promise is never broken.