So wild standing there
With her hands in her hair
I can't help remember
Just where she touched me
There's still no face
Here in her place

So cool, she was like
Jazz on a summer's day
Music, high and sweet
Then she just blew away
Now she can't be that warm
With the wind in her arms

Valerie, call on me
Call on me, Valerie
Come and see me
I'm the same boy I used to be

Love songs fill the night
But they don't tell it all
Not how lovers cry out
Just like they're dying
Her cries hang there, in time, somewhere

Someday, some good wind
May blow her back to me
Some night I may hear
Her like she used to be
No, it can't be that warm
With the wind in her arms

Valerie, call on me
Call on me, Valerie
Come and see me
I'm the same boy I used to be

So cool, she was like
Jazz on a summer's day
Music, high and sweet
Then she just blew away
Now she can't be that warm
With the wind in her arms

Valerie, call on me
Call on me, Valerie
Come and see me
I'm the same boy I used to be

I'm the same boy I used to be


Lyrics submitted by Bobo192

Valerie Lyrics as written by Will Jennings Steve Winwood

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Valerie song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +7
    General Comment

    Great Stuff - Winwood said he wrote the song because he knew of people in the music scene who were battling drug addiction and he just got so tired of seeing what the drug use was doing to the people around him- Valerie was one such person ("Then she just blew away". "It can't be that warm with the wind in her arms")

    He is saying he can help her ("Call on Me") but she never does, caught in the throes of addiction

    In his own words:

    'Valerie', for instance, isn't a song remembering this girl I was madly in love with. It's not that at all. It's a plea to a certain girl singer - someone I don't know personally but who Will Jennings had drawn my attention to - not to destroy herself with drugs. The narrator in the song is saying, 'I'm back, and I'm the same person I used to be - so why isn't she?' "

    BTW: the lyric is "I can't but help remember just where she touched me" a small distinction but enhances the song greatly

    cmckinleyon May 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    it clearly is where call on me came from..gr8 gr8 gr8 gr8 gr8 track

    theultimatespoonon January 24, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Love this song. Kicks Eric Prydz version anyday. Love it.

    eddyosaysyoon March 07, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Thinking about a lover who left you a long time ago. Wishing they'd come back, wondering where they are, and reminescing about the good times you shared...

    bradleybon December 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    bitchin song.....

    well, you know, for winwood.....

    T_D_Phoenixon February 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yes, but what's it mean?

    Ultimate Panopticonon July 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    Song Fact

    Valerie Carter.

    the1116012on February 09, 2021   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Carter

    She was a muse to both Winwood and Jackson Brown. Love reigns supreme once again ;)

    Hubrox22on February 02, 2023   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The name Valerie has origins and meanings relating to being brave, valiant, strong, and healthy (related to "valiant")... even though it can be about an actual person, I relate it to fleeting but meaningful times the narrator felt that way in and about his life, especially in youth, and now he's calling for "her" to return to grant him strength, bravery, health and victory in his undertakings. He's saying deep down he's the same boy he used to be who had big hopes, dreams and wishes and he needs her now to see them through.

    sc8583on September 19, 2023   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    "I can't help remember just where she touched me"

    Huh? What? Don't get me wrong, I REALLY want to believe it's a good song, but...

    Ultimate Panopticonon April 12, 2006   Link

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