I realize that the way that we understand songs is colored by our own experiences, and after reading the other posts on this site, I can see how I might have missed the point of this song. Nevertheless, this is what I feel the song is about...
This song is about losing someone we love. Perhaps they left us. Perhaps we broke up. No matter what the case is, they don't love us anymore. Some of the things that he mentions, like drugs, sex, etc...it isn't necessarily what Kelly (or whatever character he is depicting) is doing FOR that person, but rather what he has done in response to losing her. The most obvious facet of the song is the pain that, at times, is beyond words. The singer resorts to cries of agony.
The other things (i.e. I'll tell you what you wanna hear, I'll wear another smile for you), these seem like things that we do when we around this person again. Maybe you see them out at a pub, meet them for a drink, bump into them on the street, etc. You act like everything's "alright" - because you still harbor feelings for them, and you don't want them to think that you are the dependent, sad, pathetic wretch that they walked away from.
I guess you would have had to go through this to understand where I'm coming from, and I guess that's why the latter part of the song title is (you gotta go there to come back).
I realize that the way that we understand songs is colored by our own experiences, and after reading the other posts on this site, I can see how I might have missed the point of this song. Nevertheless, this is what I feel the song is about...
This song is about losing someone we love. Perhaps they left us. Perhaps we broke up. No matter what the case is, they don't love us anymore. Some of the things that he mentions, like drugs, sex, etc...it isn't necessarily what Kelly (or whatever character he is depicting) is doing FOR that person, but rather what he has done in response to losing her. The most obvious facet of the song is the pain that, at times, is beyond words. The singer resorts to cries of agony. The other things (i.e. I'll tell you what you wanna hear, I'll wear another smile for you), these seem like things that we do when we around this person again. Maybe you see them out at a pub, meet them for a drink, bump into them on the street, etc. You act like everything's "alright" - because you still harbor feelings for them, and you don't want them to think that you are the dependent, sad, pathetic wretch that they walked away from.
I guess you would have had to go through this to understand where I'm coming from, and I guess that's why the latter part of the song title is (you gotta go there to come back).
My two cents.