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All the other girls here are stars?you are the Northern Lights
They try to shine in through your curtains?you're too close and too bright
They try and they try but everything that they do
Is the ghost of a trace of a pale imitation of you
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
This party is made with the night air and the chance that a smile
Will wind its way from your face to one of the boys in your line
You act like you're hip to their tricks and you're strong
But a virgin Wurlitzer heart never once had a song
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
And I'll have you back by break of day
I'm going your way anyway
And if you'd like to come along
I'll be yours for a song
I know you are waiting and I know that it is not for me
But I'm here and I'm ready and I've saved you the passenger seat
I won't be your last dance just your last goodnight
Every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
So crawl up your trellis and quietly back into your room
And I'll coast down the length of your drive by the light of the moon
And the next time I see you?a new kind of hello
Both our hearts have a secret only both of us know
?bout the night that I drove you back home Kathleen
They try to shine in through your curtains?you're too close and too bright
They try and they try but everything that they do
Is the ghost of a trace of a pale imitation of you
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
This party is made with the night air and the chance that a smile
Will wind its way from your face to one of the boys in your line
You act like you're hip to their tricks and you're strong
But a virgin Wurlitzer heart never once had a song
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
And I'll have you back by break of day
I'm going your way anyway
And if you'd like to come along
I'll be yours for a song
I know you are waiting and I know that it is not for me
But I'm here and I'm ready and I've saved you the passenger seat
I won't be your last dance just your last goodnight
Every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied
I'll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
So crawl up your trellis and quietly back into your room
And I'll coast down the length of your drive by the light of the moon
And the next time I see you?a new kind of hello
Both our hearts have a secret only both of us know
?bout the night that I drove you back home Kathleen
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I adore this song.
I think it captures that innocent and kind of hopeful mood you had (or have, in retrospect) for parties in high school. You go hoping to see that one person and hope something will happen.
This girl, Kathleen, has everyone's attention and tries at the same time to act cool about it but also like a sweet, innocent girl. It seems like she, too, is hoping a certain someone shows up.
I don't even think he actually drives her home - maybe he does, maybe the last verse is just a hypothetical of what he hopes will happen with her. He doesn't think so much of himself that anything major will happen, but only that he'll get to be the one to drive her home and they'll share that secret.
on another note: I love the line "every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied"