Crush With Eyeliner

I like songs with deep lyrics, especially those that delve into psychology. In my opinion, this is one of those songs. It's a recognition that other's are fake and we know they are fake, and we will act fake in order to attract a fake person. We are all acting fake to get attention and eventually love. We end up judging other people, not by who they really are, but by their fake persona and what others say about them. Throughout the song he is asking himself what “fake” person should I act like to attract this other fake person? From the song: “What position should I wear? Cop an attitude? (you fake her) How can I convince her? (fake her) That I'm invented too, yeah”. He says, “We all invent ourselves and Uh you know me”: We invent ourselves by saying things like, Uh you know me, I'm Mr Organized. We give ourselves labels hoping they will stick and that's how people will remember us. Not only are most of these labels not true, they are usually the opposite of the truth. What's with the Frankenstein reference? He was a person built with the parts of multiple people. “I could be your Frankenstein” is saying I can be who you want me to be. He is trying to figure out which fake personality he should use to attract the fake person he has a crush on. Guess how these relationships usually end? Which, I think, is part of the point of the song. Another point is that we sometimes believe other's perceptions of people without finding out for ourselves and stick lasting labels and judgments on them. “She's a sad tomato” and “She's three miles of bad road”. Why are those in this song about a woman he is smitten with? Is he asking around about her and this is what others say about her? He does say, “I know you've seen her”. Is part of his brain saying on the surface she seems like a train wreck, but I can see past the fake roles she is playing and find something lovable about her? Maybe the next line, “she's her own invention” tells us. He is realizing that we are all fake, but as long as we are all inventing ourselves, maybe instead of playing the typical “tough guy” “wise guy” “drama queen” “professional business person” “know it all” roles that everybody else is pretending to be, we should be our own invention and be uniquely ourselves. Maybe that is why he is still smitten with the “sad tomato” that is “three miles of bad road”. Maybe that's why he says, “I'm the real thing” (a Coke advertising slogan). And “what can I make myself be to make her mine”. He knows that he is trying to find fake roles to play to attract her, and so is she. And if they get together after a while, when they get past the fake roles they are playing, he wants her to know that deep down he is “the real thing”; and that he can see past her fake eyeliner and the superficialness of the role she is playing being a “sad tomato” and he can see through to the uniqueness of her being “her own invention”, which is what she is down deep. Maybe he is saying that I can see past the fake roles you are playing and I am smitten with the real you. Maybe that is why the first three words to the song are, “I know you” even though most of the song is about being fake. I also noticed that one line of the song says, “how can I convince her that I'm invented too?” Why would he want to do that? Most people aren't very honest about being fake. What if he chose a fake role to play to get her attention and it didn't work? Then he has to backtrack and tell her, “that other guy you met last night, that wasn't me! It was a jerky fake version of me. Could we start all over again?” Anyway, that's my take!