Thompson Twins – If You Were Here

if you were here
i could deceive you
and if you were here
you would believe
but would you suspect
my emotion wandering, yeah
do not want a part of this anymore
The rain water drips
through a crack in the ceiling
and i'll have to spend
my time on repair
But just like the rain
i'll be always falling, yeah
only to rise and fall again
(REPEAT CHORUS)


Lyrics submitted by Hannah101

"If You Were Here" as written by Joseph Martin Leeway Alannah Joy Currie

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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If You Were Here song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentI loved this song at the end of Sixteen Candles. It was the perfect ending for this movie. But i have no idea what the meaning of this song is.
    Natah9on June 08, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General CommentFYI- Cary Brothers is one guy with the last name Brothers. His version is wonderful.

    I think, rather, that he's saying he's fooling her into thinking he's in love with her but he's not.
    AroundtheWrldon December 01, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General CommentHe doesnt want to hurt her, but he no longer feels that love that her professes.
    Time and again he's put her silent fears to rest with his deceptions, to the point its become a regular thing.
    Its really a very sad song if you've been on either side of this kind of relationship.
    voydlanderon January 19, 2007   Link
  • +2
    MemoryThe song stars and ends with wondering what would happen "If you were here," presumably meaning that the person to whom the song is directed isn't present. I think the speaker went through a typically difficult breakup of a relationship--something, it appears, that has happened before ("I'll be always falling")--and is now trying to emotionally cope with the fact that another relationship has failed by painting it as something (like all the others) that never really mattered in the first place. Essentially, "If you were here I could tell you how much I don't like this relationship either and how unimportant it is to me, too." The person to whom the song is addressed, however, isn't there anymore--he or she is already gone. So the song thus becomes a self-address and a reflection on how this type of thing always happens--the speaker has these breakups and then puts up the wall of "I was never emotionally invested so it doesn't matter." At the same time, however, the speaker realizes that this part of his or her life will be always broken (cracked). He or she will spend time on songs like this which help to "repair" the pain of breaking up with someone by making it sound like no big deal, but the speaker realizes that "Just like the rain, I'll be always falling, yeah / Only to rise and fall again." I think, therefore, the final "Do not want a part of this anymore" isn't about not wanting to be in the original relationship that the first "Do not want a part of this anymore" refers to, but rather is a statement by the speaker that he or she doesn't want to go through this process of pretending not to be invested anymore.
    Is it your name?on February 19, 2011   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +2
    Song MeaningFamiliar with the Thompson Twins...this is a tale of the "lover's paradox".

    It is the classic struggle in finding the right equilibrium that will give him the possibility of loving and being loved, without having a superficial relationship or a deep but passionless friendship (eros vs agape). The deception "I could deceive you" allows for the seduction: passion, flirting, etc. for eros, as she will believe, but it may have moved beyond that point (the relationship may have jumped the shark).

    What we call the "loss of innocents" when you understand the deception and move out of passionate love.

    The other side is honesty, which leads to platonic love...when the "deception" seduction/love has gone or is lost.

    He spends his time trying to bridge/fill that gap "the crack", though he is the very cause of his own demise (like the rain water that maintains the divide). But like nature with the rain cycle, the human condition has its own cycle...relationships repeat this cycle, falling in and out of love, as we try to find the balance, though our innocents will never return.

    It is a perfect song for 16 candles, as it is exactly what the movie is about...
    austininskon January 03, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI agree with voydlander.

    He is trapped in the relationship and lies to her to spare her feelings.
    He wants out, and states "My emotion wandering, yeah" (for another girl)
    and he'll spend time on repair for missing her but
    "I'll be always falling, yeah" (meaning he's going to fall for someone else)
    "Only to rise and fall again" (he keeps falling in and out of love.)
    It is sad, for both.
    Why in the hell would they place this song at the end of Sixteen Candles?!!

    Love the song though.
    Gmaddox322on July 12, 2010   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • 0
    General CommentIf you really read the lyrics, it actually looks like it's about how the man doesn't want to be in a relationship anymore. It seems like maybe he's cheated or something and feels he needs to fix himself (like the crack in the cieling he needs to repair). If I AM on the right track though, I wonder why they would put this song at the end of Sixteen Candles when Jake Ryan and Sam are finally getting TOGETHER. This was must MY interpretation of the lyrics.
    Christie804on July 21, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentTo me it seems like he is speaking of the one he loves. And how when they are around eachother he doesnt act like he wants her, but wonders if she notices that he really does.
    The other half seems like he isnt ready for going after this person, because he himself isnt ready, and needs some time to get to know himself.
    I like how the Cary Brothers sing this song, you can find it on thier myspace
    xtrabiotoxinon July 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    My OpinionI agree that it's about someone wanting to get out of a relationship because they are interested in someone else. I think it describes Jake and Caroline more than him and Sam. Perhaps John Hughes didn't look into the lyrics because it does sound like a happy song, and with all the vocal effects sounds like he's saying "If you were here, I'd get to see you." At least, that's what I thought he was saying for like TWENTY YEARS. lol I was kind of sad when I read the real lyrics.
    khromeon June 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment"If you were here, I could deceive you, and if you were here, you would believe"

    It applies to the end of the movie, Sixteen Candles, in the sense that Jake no longer loves Caroline, and the lyrics would be referencing her, since she is not there.

    "do not want a part of this anymore"

    If Caroline was there, he could deceive her by pretending to still love her, but no longer wants to be part of that relationship.

    He's right where he wants to be, with Samantha.
    lauraleighon January 28, 2017   Link

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