Call Me, Maybe

Edit to fix a typo

I'm surprised that no one has figured this one out yet! It took me a while, but close study of the lyrics of this song has made it very clear to me what the hidden meaning of this song is. I think it really helps to see the music video, as well, since at the the end you find out that the guy she's going after is gay.

At first it seems like a stupid song about giving your number to a stranger hoping everything will turn out okay. But there's one part of the song that doesn't quite fit that interpretation:

"Before you came into my life I missed you so bad."

Huh? How can you miss someone before you've met them? This used to irritate me a lot, with my logical mind. But after I thought about it some more, I realized what she's really saying: she's a time traveler!

It fits perfectly. See, she had a relationship with this guy, but then she found a time machine, and traveled back in time. The machine must've been one that simply rewinds time (either that or she killed her past self, though nothing in the song would suggest this). Time, in this story, works by revision, and somehow she did something in the past that changed the way things were supposed to happen. Now, she's finally arrived at the time she's supposed to fall in love with him, but something's not right. She's very nervous, because she doesn't want to miss her chance for the relationship to happen, but it has to happen in a completely different way now, since she changed the circumstances.

"I threw a wish in the well Don't ask me I'll never tell I looked at you as it fell And now you're in my way"

Here, she's wishing for everything to work out, but she obviously can't tell him she's a time traveler, or he'll think she's crazy! He's "in her way" either because she has some other pressing time travel-related mission to complete, or because his aloofness is making it hard for her to get with him.

"I'd trade my soul for a wish Pennies and dimes for a kiss I wasn't looking for this But now you're in my way."

This stanza reinforces the idea that she had another mission to accomplish when she suddenly ran into him, and the "in my way" could mean that she really needs to accomplish this mission, but at the same time she doesn't want to miss her chance at starting the relationship. Things aren't happening the way she remembers them.

"Your stare was holding Ripped jeans, skin was showin' Hot night, wind was blowin' Where you think you're going baby?"

Here she is overtaken by her love for him, and decides to go for it.

"It's hard to look right at you baby But here's my number, so call me maybe Hey I just met you and this is crazy But here's my number, so call me maybe And all the other boys try to chase me But here's my number, so call me maybe."

Here her desperation hits its peak, and she tries to push him into the relationship as quickly as she can. She acknowledges that this approach is unorthodox, and might even creep him out, but she doesn't know what else to do, given the circumstances.

"You took your time with the call I took no time with the fall You gave me nothing at all But still you're in my way I beg and borrow and steal At first sight and it's real I didn't know I would feel it But it's in my way."

He isn't as enthusiastic about it as she'd hoped, and she's scared that she failed. He isn't calling, and she is "falling" into depression over the fact that she probably lost him for good. She had no idea this would happen, and it's "in my way," distracting her from her mission.

And then, of course:

"Before you came into my life I missed you so bad And you should know that I missed you so so bad."

She slips up her, blowing her cover. Before he came into her life, in this new timeline, she missed him. She really wants him to know that, but of course that wouldn't make sense to him.

Finally, the end of the music video shows that he's gay. But she was in a relationship with him last time! Three possibilities here: one, she went back in time and changed something such that, in this new timeline, he's gay; two, he was already gay before, but now that they're not together, he is more willing to freely express himself; or three, he's actually bisexual.

So, recap: She goes back in time, changes something, breaks the time machine, and lives her life up until they are supposed to get together. She has some sort of mission to take care of, but at the same time she finds the love of her life again and desperately tries to hook up with him, even though doing so will take time away from her mission. But she fails, and he hooks up with the guitarist in her band instead.

This song is more than a silly pop song. It's a time travel drama, cryptic in its delivery because the narrator must be cryptic in order to keep her once lover from thinking she's delusional. It's a very touching story, and the ending, while at first glance comical, appears poignant in the light of this new interpretation.