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I Can See It In Your Eyes Lyrics
By your leave, I think that I'll be going now
I think I've stayed a little long
I looked up all my mother's recipes
I can't think what I did wrong
We go to a restaurant, but you don't like wine
You say it's love you want, but there is no time
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
You keep staring at the floor
I used to look at your school photographs
But I don't have them anymore
I wonder who's in my old college rooms
Or stuck on my old locker door
I dream of the ships at sea, on a stormy night
I wish that it was me, but I wake in fright
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
I've only got myself to blame
Winter kisses when your lips were blue
Like chasing wild geese in the snow
Pressing faces on the window panes
But that's a long long time ago
We go to a restaurant
You say it's love you want
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
You're moving on to something more
I think I've stayed a little long
I looked up all my mother's recipes
I can't think what I did wrong
You say it's love you want, but there is no time
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
You keep staring at the floor
But I don't have them anymore
I wonder who's in my old college rooms
Or stuck on my old locker door
I wish that it was me, but I wake in fright
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
I've only got myself to blame
Like chasing wild geese in the snow
Pressing faces on the window panes
But that's a long long time ago
You say it's love you want
I realize, I can see it in your eyes
You're moving on to something more
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No comments? It's one of their best songs!
Huge MAW fan from way back; I was in middle school in the early '80's when they were huge. Used to have "Cargo" and "Business as Usual" on Vinyl @ that time. Got out of the group for a long while, then got back into them again circa 2012 - when I bought Cargo & BAU on CD (used).
I was re-listening to "I can See it in your Eyes" on the CD recently, and am appreciating the song a lot more than when I heard it back in the day. This is definitely one of my top five favorite songs by them, and I even find it superior & much more complex/nuanced than their much more iconic songs.
The lines about school photographs, college rooms, and the locker definitely brings to mind a sense of wistful nostalgia; the narrator is thinking about the past with fondness, and remembering his high school/college years - when he was possibly happier than he is in the present.
Going along with this, the narrator appears to be dating a woman who wants to settle down/get married (and possibly have a family), but he is either not ready for a long-term relationship, and/or he is afraid of commitment. He's living in the past (hence the references to his younger years) and also possibly living in a fantasy world - hence his dreams about being lost at sea, etc.
Just my .02