Don't Let It Show

this song.. one of my favourite songs. for me it reflects my cutting stage.. still now.. but not to give in and cut, not to show the pain... that's how i feel anyway...

Well, I could be wrong, but I think this song is possibly based of one of the I, Robot stories called Evidence, where there is a politician suspected to be a robot, and it is strongly suggested throught the story that he is one. It's implied that he was built by an old man that he refers to as his "teacher." This could be a conversation between them where the teacher is saying to hide the fact that you are a robot.

I'm not sure, but that seems the closest match to one of the I, Robot stories. I mean, it doesn't seem quite to fit to me so I'm probably way off on this one.

Not sure if I have anything else to add to the commentary on the lyrics. I just wanted to point out that it was Pat Benatar, not Streisand that covered this song on her debut album In The Heat of the Night.

To me, this song is about when you show what is inside you, people usually see that as weak (I don't say it is, but that is what i noticed) and it will be used against you, even if you have nothing to hide, people still try to play mindgames with you, no reaction is often the best reaction, then they start thinking because they get insecure about what you are thinking, it is a way to keep control, but it isn't a nice one. Love this song.

Weird how a lot of the songs on these albums remind me about the conditions of living life with autism, especially Breakdown. Then again, some people might comment on autistic people as behaving like sci-fi robots. But that's just a personal connection, a likely murder of the artist, so to paint it more broad, it's how we all have to hide something. The speaker could be a personification of grief, trauma, even something as common as anger. Anything someone would feel compelled to hide.

"if it's getting harder to face every day, don't let it show" This introduces that this is a man vs self problem, something is eating the person the speaker is singing to. "if it's getting harder to take what they say, just let it go" it's also a man vs man problem. Other people set off the alarms in the suffering person's brain, they make the suffering person feel worse, probably judging them for what's making them suffer. "And if it hurts when they mention my name, say you don't know me" The sufferer is compelled to wear a disguise around others, as not to expose the barely hidden plague. "And if it helps when they say I'm to blame, say you don't own me." When the ailment is hated, but not the sufferer, it helps, but they choose to deny they have the ailment because the help they need is out of reach because half the crowd blames the sufferer. "Even if it's taking the easy way out, keep it inside of you, don't give in, don't tell them anything." we're afraid of getting help, we would rather take the easy way out (die, implied by our own hands) than to take the easy way out (have other people help us out of the hole we're in) We won't let our guards down because we've been wrong about allies before, and shame is a weight hardly lifted. We let what's killing us kill us, keeping it inside of us.

"Even though you know it's the wrong thing to say, say you don't care. Even if you want to believe there's a way, I won't be there." The ailment begs the sufferer not to get better, not to trust their better judgement, and trying to convince them that the way without them isn't worth it. Our problems try to make us think we're better for having them, but it isn't true, we can be good people without being hurt. "But if you smile when they mention my name, they'll never know you. And if you laugh when they say I'm to blame, they'll never own you" Here, it seems like the ailment is giving them advice that doesn't reach them as well. The sufferer doesn't want to be alone, they want people to know them, they belong with people who call them one of their own. They might not follow the advice to hide the ailment. "Even if you feel you've got nothing to hide. Keep it inside of you. Don't give in, don't tell them anything." The ailment urges them that there isn't a problem, they have something to hide, even if you don't believe it.

This song can end in one of two ways: the sufferer takes the ailment's advice, or the sufferer bears their scars and gets help, killing the ailment.

dude, this is the song i want played at my funeral. i figure it's like, once im gone, if someone pisses you off while theyre tlaking about me, "Dont Let It Show" just keep it in. And "Even if you want to believe there's a way I won't be there, I won't be there" that's like, when some one you love dies, you always think about what you could have done to fix it, but death is final.

Ah, illicit love! Of course, no reason is given as to WHY it's a forbidden love...

If we're keeping in line with the concept of the album - Is it that the robots in the future only allow humans to mate on a schedule?

Or does it have nothing to do with Robots and it's simply that classic Romeo and Juliet scenario where the political situation prevents love from blossoming?

Whatever the reason, it's apparent that the love these two share is real - admitting to it is impossible. What I notice most about this is that there's no hope here - no change of a future for these lovers are in the cards.

He (I assume it's a 'he' although I believe this song was redone by Streisand once), is willing to take the blame and responsibility from her and put it on himself. All she has to do is not say anything about what happened.

It would seem that something bad is about to happen to our protagonist as he says, 'they say I'm to blame' and 'getting harder to take what they say' - about him, I'm assuming.

Sometimes you wish a songwriter would be a little more specific - although nothing beats the Neil Young line in 'Long May You Run': 'We've been through some... things together...' Grrrrr.... ;)

Still, with that much ambiguity, a lot of people can put themselves in that song and it works for them. Read the comments so far and you'll see what I mean. One poster relates it to cutting, another, a funeral song.

Either way, this isn't a very happy song, but it is an effective one.

What this song means to me is this. I actually started listening to APP while I was going through this, and it hit home pretty hard. So I'm not sure if this is what he was writing about, but it's was clear to me. While out of town on business I met a girl at my clients office, she worked there and was engaged to the owners' son. We fell in love and kept our relationship going even after I left. When this was going on, the owners started hearing things and asking questions about it "And if it hurts when they mention my name" it was killing her I know. She tried to stay, but she ended up breaking it off...but continued to work there. "And if it helps when they say I'm to blame. Say you don't own me." Eventually she did leave and we tried to make it work, but sadly it ended. I hope she's happy where ever she is.

i actually never looked at this song as being between 2 lovers but actually a friend talking to another good friend. to me it sounds like the singer is about to be executed by the robots and he's telling his friend when they come for you don't say anything, just stay silent even though it will be very hard. i figure the man must've tried to rebel and was captured by the robots. it's a very melancholy, sad song. don't know why it gets all upbeat at the end. it's catchy and all but i don't know how it would tie into the meaning of the song. anyway that's my thoughts

I think he is talking about having AIDS and being Gay. What he is saying, don't tell them you have the disease, don't suffer with the stigma(when it was written) just live your life.