Lyric discussion by auntiebembem 

Cover art for Say Hey (I Love You) lyrics by Michael Franti And Spearhead

Awesome! When I think about this song, my feelings are:

This is a song that boils it all down to the basics: I love you, I love you, I love you

It's a song that, to me, focuses the attention on loving others.

The first verse is actually kind of strange, if you think about it:

I say hey, I be gone today But I be back around the way Seems like everywhere I go The more I see, the less I know But I know one thing, that I love you I love you, I love you, I love you

"Hey, I'm gone but I'll be back" sounds like an apology. And then the rest of the verse is so humble (When I travel, it just reinforces my sense that I'm ignorant).

Why so humble and apologetic? And then, shortly after:

"But I don't want to write a love song for the world I just want to write a song about a boy and girl"

So, it's a regret that love is so complicated, and that he would even need to write a song encouraging people to love other people, other nations, since that should be a/the guiding philosophy all the time

From the video-Life is an interconnected web of people, so this song focuses on loving people. That people always outweigh person. That exulting over meeting people while never forgetting whom you've known, is what it's all about. In the end it's about appreciation of all the positive actions--the countenances of two people in love--that we as sentient creatures can make, for it shall always out way all the damage we make. Let's anoint positive sentiment, and always embrace new people, while presumably holding on the ones in your past. It's human nature to reach out. Maybe if we adopt this...