This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Ooh (Tell me it's me you want), whoa
You got to tell me, why don't you tell me, girl
(Tell me) Tell me (It's me you want) it's me you want, baby
You know you got to tell me, got to, got to tell me
Why don't you, why don't you tell me, girl
You, you got to tell me, baby
Whoa...oh...
Hurt your heart a thousand times
Well, now my rhythm, girl, has got no rhyme
You tell me I'm wrong, baby, full of lovin' like I do
Oh, how can I be wrong, baby, when it feels so good to you
I want to hear you tell me, girl
Tell me it's me you want, baby
Got to tell me, ooh, I want you to tell me
Tell me it's me you want, baby
My love is strong, girl, never weak
And all I want to do is keep on treatin' you real sweet
Don't stop my love, girl, 'cause I got so much, so much I want to give
And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you, girl, as long as I, as long as I live
All you got to do is tell me one thing, tell me
Tell me it's me you want, baby
Why don't you, why, why, why don't you just tell
Tell me it's me you want, baby
Ooh...hoo...
I know a man ain't supposed to cry
So why don't I just wipe these tears my eyes
You tell me you want to leave me, no, no, no, no, girl
Uh, don't do that, don't do that, I'll never let you go
Uh, girl
Ooh, no, no, no, no, no, no
Ooh, baby
I don't want to cry, no
Don't tell me you're leavin' me, don't tell me you're goin' away
I don't, I don't, I don't think I can take it
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Baby
All I want you to do is tell me
(Tell me it's me you want, baby) Tell me it's me you love
You got to tell me, why don't you just tell me
(Tell me it's me you want, baby)
Whoa...oh...oh...whoa...oh...whoa...baby
I got your one love
I want to be just with you, girl, baby
I've got to give it to you
I want to give my love, I want to be your one and only lover, baby
You got to tell me, why don't you tell me, girl
(Tell me) Tell me (It's me you want) it's me you want, baby
You know you got to tell me, got to, got to tell me
Why don't you, why don't you tell me, girl
You, you got to tell me, baby
Whoa...oh...
Hurt your heart a thousand times
Well, now my rhythm, girl, has got no rhyme
You tell me I'm wrong, baby, full of lovin' like I do
Oh, how can I be wrong, baby, when it feels so good to you
I want to hear you tell me, girl
Tell me it's me you want, baby
Got to tell me, ooh, I want you to tell me
Tell me it's me you want, baby
My love is strong, girl, never weak
And all I want to do is keep on treatin' you real sweet
Don't stop my love, girl, 'cause I got so much, so much I want to give
And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you, girl, as long as I, as long as I live
All you got to do is tell me one thing, tell me
Tell me it's me you want, baby
Why don't you, why, why, why don't you just tell
Tell me it's me you want, baby
Ooh...hoo...
I know a man ain't supposed to cry
So why don't I just wipe these tears my eyes
You tell me you want to leave me, no, no, no, no, girl
Uh, don't do that, don't do that, I'll never let you go
Uh, girl
Ooh, no, no, no, no, no, no
Ooh, baby
I don't want to cry, no
Don't tell me you're leavin' me, don't tell me you're goin' away
I don't, I don't, I don't think I can take it
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Baby
All I want you to do is tell me
(Tell me it's me you want, baby) Tell me it's me you love
You got to tell me, why don't you just tell me
(Tell me it's me you want, baby)
Whoa...oh...oh...whoa...oh...whoa...baby
I got your one love
I want to be just with you, girl, baby
I've got to give it to you
I want to give my love, I want to be your one and only lover, baby
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Tell Me It's Me You Want Lyrics as written by Keith D. Sweat Edward Theodore Riley
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.