Kiss On My List

I always thought this song was kind of tongue-in-cheek. The speaker says he only smiles when he lies and then he tells his friends all this sweet nonsense about how it's her kiss that he's likes. He slips in "I only smile when I lie" with the utmost subtlety. It's easy for an inattentive audience to miss it and just hear the sweet chorus.

In the second section he's referring to one of those relationship "talks" where she is worriedly trying to assess what he really thinks of her. Does he regret being with her, she wonders Of course not, he assures her. I couldn't go on! He tells her a few silly lies to shut her up, because she's kind of dumb, or at least gullible.

What is it he really wants? He wants to get some tail! That's it! He doesn't tell his buddies that or his girlfriend that because it's more fun for him to be kind of a cad and keep up this game that he's a really sweet guy. (He doesn't feel the need to give such secrets away.)

I always thought this song was kind of an inside joke because the chorus is repeated so much that most people just assume it's a straight forward sweet little love song.

There's a lot of discussion here about how the song is from a male perspective and how it probably is less than sincere. That makes for an interesting take, but I suspect that's not what is happening here.

This was the first of several collaborations between Hall and Janna Allen, the younger sister of Hall's long term partner, Sara Allen (she of Sara Smile fame). Janna brought the lyrics to Hall. If you consider that the lyrics were written by a 23-year-old woman who worked as a receptionist, rather than an older rock star, all that cynicism seems less likely. Allen had aspirations to become an artist herself, and if you look at other compositions of hers, the lyrics were coy and flirty, but always a bit syrupy, even if genuine. One need not leave Hall and Oates' catalog to see more of this flavor in "Private Eyes" and "Did It in a Minute". In the case of all these tracks, Allen brought largely intact songs to Hall, who only made minor tweaks to the lyrics while adding the soul influenced rock chord progressions and pop-friendly new wave elements that he was doing better than anyone else in the world in the early 1980s.

I think in that context, the song is less about a deceptive guy trying to get laid, as suggested in other comments, and more the earnest, flirty but innocent (and possibly naive) words of a young woman that are turned into a classic when reinterpreted by a pop balladeer in his thirties who gave the words gravitas and soul, akin to the best Motown classics, albeit redressed in radio friendly new wave sounds of the time.

One of their best songs IMO

I have questions. If he doesn’t really like her why is he calling her all the time? If he doesn’t really like her then why does he say he wouldn’t regret her? Why does he say he misses her? It seems like he really does love her. So why would it be a lie for him to tell others that her kiss is on his list …. ? The only way the song could make sense is if he really loves her deeply, but he doesn’t want others to know that. So he makes up something about her kiss being so great, that way he doesn’t have to admit that he’s head over heels in love. …. But this isn’t how Darryl Hall explains it. What he says it contradictory to what the song actually says. So is it us that he’s lying to when he tries to blow off the song as some type of anti-love song? Or is he lying to himself?

Very much agree,he cant stop hanging around a girl thats no good for him,he can see its a waste of time but cant resist!

He's ashamed of her, and he doesn't want to admit he really likes her a lot, because his friends insult her(probably for good reason). He thinks she will dump him anyway, so he plays it off like he only likes kissing her, nothing more. The thing is, if he's ashamed of her, then he's no good for her anyway, because she wasn't worth fighting for. She deserves better.

This was the first song I ever played on a jukebox that wasn't something my parents wanted to hear. I loved this song as a young teen, just as I do today, but I think I actually understand it now.

So there's Daryl talking to his girl about his friends, telling her that they get on him about his happiness, but he lies when he tells them her kiss is on the list. It's a little white lie though.

See, the thing is, Daryl is telling his friends that her kiss is the reason, but it's only ONE of the things on his list - he does NOT say that it's #1. What would #1 on his list be?...

After the chorus, the next verse is him continuing his conversation with his girl. He essentially tells her that he hopes their relationship actually means something, because it does to him - no regrets...

Which suggests what takes the #1 spot on his list of the 'best things in life'. I won't be crude, but I think readers can figure this one out for themselves.

This is a song written before you could basically say anything on the radio. You had to have some writing chops to find creative ways to encode the true message of the song for more adult ears to hear it. It's a shame this this art appears to be lost in modern music.

I heard this while waiting in the dentist's office and it blew me away. So fun!