People say I'm the life of the party
Because I tell a joke or two
Although I may be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I'm blue

So take a good look at my face
You see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

I need you, need you

If you see me with another girl
Acting like I'm having fun
Although she may be cute
She's just a substitute
Girl, you're the permanent one

Ah, take a good look at my face
You see my smile looks out of place
Now look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

Outside, I'm masquerading
Inside, my hope is fading
I'm just a clown since you put me down
My smile is my makeup I wear
Since my breakup with you

Baby, baby, take a good look at my face
You see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

Baby, baby, baby, take a good look at my face
You see my smile looks out of place
Just look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

Baby, baby, baby, take a good look at this face
My smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears


Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher

Tracks of My Tears (Smokey Robinson cover) song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I cant believe no one has commented on this song! Its amazing. Hes obviously hurting for his former love, longing for her to come back. Its so awsome, especially at the end where he repeats "I need you".

    lsuchazon December 28, 2006   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.