Please Don't Say You Love Me

I love this song and in my opinion I think that she is trying to explain a relationship that is just so perfect that she doesn't want to get ruined by the other person saying "I love you". In the first verse-

Summer comes, winter fades Here we are just the same We don't need pressure, we don't need change Let's not give the game away

When she says "We don't need change" she is implying that there is no need to make a change in their relationship by saying "I love you". Also I think when she says "Let's not give the game away" Gabrielle is trying to say she doesn't want her partner to say the words and 'give the game away' and say what they are feeling.

There used to be an empty space A photograph without a face But with your presence, and your grace Everything falls into place

In this verse I think she is saying how happy she is to have the person in her life and how before their 'grace' her heart had an 'empty space' but now that they are together things begins to make sense and then they start to 'fall into place'. However I even though she says all of this I still feel some sort of confusion on what she wants to happen.

Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back

In the chorus I think it is quite simple what the message is, she simply doesn't want him to say he loves her. But even though she says that he may not get the response he was hoping for she does still care for him and maybe even love him but she just doesn't want him to say it back. Her heart still stops skipping but she just doesn't want to rush into anything too soon.

Heavy words are hard to take Under pressure precious things can break How we feel is hard to fake So let's not give the game away

The words 'I love you' are very emotional and strong words to say in any sort of relationship and it takes time before anyone is comfortable saying it as well as hearing it. So I think Gabrielle is saying that the three words are 'heavy words' and she finds it 'hard to take' meaning that she doesn't want to feel pressurised into saying it back as it isn't just like a 'hello' as 'I love you' actually holds meaning and emotion. Also she says she doesn't want to be living a lie and faking her emotions as she says "How we feel is hard to fake" so this means she obviously cares about the person in question enough to not want to string them along on an endless web of lies.

And fools rush in And I've been the fool before This time I'm gonna slow down 'Cause I think this could be more The thing I'm looking for

After the next chorus I feel as though all of the mixed feelings finally make sense and "Everything falls into place" as she explains why she is feeling so much doubt about her feelings. At first Gabrielle explains that she doesn't want to rush her feelings or the relationship so by not saying the three words nothing is rushed and everything happens slowly. As "Fools rush in". Then she says that she too has "been a fool before" showing that she doesn't want to make the same mistake again and she is learning from her mistakes. Afterwards she shows that this relationship is more important than the one is was a 'fool' in before as she says "Cause I think this could be more" meaning that she doesn't want to destroy it and ruin what they have built up together and it will take her some time before she will be prepared to say the three words 'I love you'.

Overall my opinion is that she does have strong feelings for this person, maybe even love, but she just wants to take her time in the relationship before she says it and she doesn't want the man to say he loves her because she is scared of being a 'fool' again and then stops herself ultimately destroying their relationship altogether.

This song links to a personal situation in my life where someone did say they loved me before I was ready and then I was too scared to say it back and then I lost the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I think this song is pretty self explanatory. She is talking about how everything in her life used to be all over the place until this guy came into her life and that is when it all just sorta fell into place. She is asking him not to tell her he loves her cause she doesn't want to move to fast, she just kinda wants to take it slow and see where things lead them. Everything is going so well she doesn't want to see it get messed up. Also, I think she is asking him to show her the love rather than just to simply, outright tell her.

On a side note I definitely feel that there is a huge difference between loving someone and being in love with someone, the latter being the one in which she refers to in the song. I've always thought that loving someone was just simply caring about them and wanting the best for them while being in love with someone is when you couldn't imagine your life without that person.