Excellent, excellent song. Filled with so much intensity it is overwhelming! Pure genius!
I think it is about an attraction that started as a deep desire. It could or it couldn't have been consummated by then, it is really irrelevant. But actually at this point what we can have for certain is there is insatisfaction; because he developed strong feelings for her ("I've spend a lifetime looking for someone"), he realizes his feelings had gotten so intense that by now it is HER the person he is thinking can be The One but instead, she has been holding back "all she does is throw it back at me". Even if it is implied she does feel something for him, however twisted, she is acting coldly because she needs to be in control to reassure herself. Her insecurity is the reason why he is probably telling her: "Love as a woman" "Act like a lady". Probably everything started as a misunderstanding, to finally become a power game in which BOTH of them are getting hurt, because it has reached a point in which they both became too selfish to handle it; but he's seen it clearly now. Why do I say so? He says:
You always knew just how to make me cry
And never did I answer to your questions why
It seems you get your kicks from hurting me
Don't try to understand me
Because your words just aren't enough
She HAS tried to understand him, but not in the way he needs to. She keeps on talking, she wants to know how he feels, which is why she asks and drowns herself in reasons; to him it all just feels like endless, empty babbling. She doesn't trust him; he senses that, so besides of her holding back that is why he cries, that is why "she always takes it with a heart of stone". She won't understand he doesn't need her anguish, her probing, her mistrust, her hurt... he wants her to SHOW it all, he wants her to shut up and "quench my desire, taking me higher" to find the answer they both have been looking for in an act of raw intimacy, hence: "love is a feeling, give in to the fire". It is indeed tainted with pain and anguish, but the plea within the melody of the guitar is also feral, passionate, intense; "just simply do the things I say" and "Give it when I want it" is mainly a challenge, not an imposition.
The feeling has gotten so complex, he doesn't want to be understood by her anymore, because it caused all of this hullaboo including "that she and her friends laugh at him". In a way, that is how he is giving in to her first, acknowledging his deep need of her, his vulnerability (it's ok); despite of how much misunderstood, angry, strung on and hurt he feels. He wants to end this top-dog and under-dog game once and for all, so he challenges her whether to give in to the feeling, so both of them can finally learn to love each other or to warn her he is leaving. Also after giving in, it doesn't really mean they will stick around together, it means it is the final test to see if all of this is really worth it or if they should, after all just walk away. She is also scared of that possible outcome, which is why she flung her crap and anguish at him, as an excuse to keep holding back herself and keep holding the feeling back for fear if she releases it, she will lose him (You won't be laughing when I'm not around, I'll be okay). In desperation for being tied up by her and misunderstood, he beckons her to tell her anguishes and fears "to the preacher, satisfy the feeling".
Very interesting what you wrote, very story telling and as I am learning songs by Michael now, he seems to be very coded, in a good way. Your meaning, seems very powerful. Thanks for taking the time to write that out. Blue
Very interesting what you wrote, very story telling and as I am learning songs by Michael now, he seems to be very coded, in a good way. Your meaning, seems very powerful. Thanks for taking the time to write that out. Blue
Excellent, excellent song. Filled with so much intensity it is overwhelming! Pure genius!
I think it is about an attraction that started as a deep desire. It could or it couldn't have been consummated by then, it is really irrelevant. But actually at this point what we can have for certain is there is insatisfaction; because he developed strong feelings for her ("I've spend a lifetime looking for someone"), he realizes his feelings had gotten so intense that by now it is HER the person he is thinking can be The One but instead, she has been holding back "all she does is throw it back at me". Even if it is implied she does feel something for him, however twisted, she is acting coldly because she needs to be in control to reassure herself. Her insecurity is the reason why he is probably telling her: "Love as a woman" "Act like a lady". Probably everything started as a misunderstanding, to finally become a power game in which BOTH of them are getting hurt, because it has reached a point in which they both became too selfish to handle it; but he's seen it clearly now. Why do I say so? He says:
You always knew just how to make me cry And never did I answer to your questions why It seems you get your kicks from hurting me Don't try to understand me Because your words just aren't enough
She HAS tried to understand him, but not in the way he needs to. She keeps on talking, she wants to know how he feels, which is why she asks and drowns herself in reasons; to him it all just feels like endless, empty babbling. She doesn't trust him; he senses that, so besides of her holding back that is why he cries, that is why "she always takes it with a heart of stone". She won't understand he doesn't need her anguish, her probing, her mistrust, her hurt... he wants her to SHOW it all, he wants her to shut up and "quench my desire, taking me higher" to find the answer they both have been looking for in an act of raw intimacy, hence: "love is a feeling, give in to the fire". It is indeed tainted with pain and anguish, but the plea within the melody of the guitar is also feral, passionate, intense; "just simply do the things I say" and "Give it when I want it" is mainly a challenge, not an imposition.
The feeling has gotten so complex, he doesn't want to be understood by her anymore, because it caused all of this hullaboo including "that she and her friends laugh at him". In a way, that is how he is giving in to her first, acknowledging his deep need of her, his vulnerability (it's ok); despite of how much misunderstood, angry, strung on and hurt he feels. He wants to end this top-dog and under-dog game once and for all, so he challenges her whether to give in to the feeling, so both of them can finally learn to love each other or to warn her he is leaving. Also after giving in, it doesn't really mean they will stick around together, it means it is the final test to see if all of this is really worth it or if they should, after all just walk away. She is also scared of that possible outcome, which is why she flung her crap and anguish at him, as an excuse to keep holding back herself and keep holding the feeling back for fear if she releases it, she will lose him (You won't be laughing when I'm not around, I'll be okay). In desperation for being tied up by her and misunderstood, he beckons her to tell her anguishes and fears "to the preacher, satisfy the feeling".
Very interesting what you wrote, very story telling and as I am learning songs by Michael now, he seems to be very coded, in a good way. Your meaning, seems very powerful. Thanks for taking the time to write that out. Blue
Very interesting what you wrote, very story telling and as I am learning songs by Michael now, he seems to be very coded, in a good way. Your meaning, seems very powerful. Thanks for taking the time to write that out. Blue
Spot on VVK!
Spot on VVK!
@VVK Its amazingly well-written. Kudos! You are a genius.
@VVK Its amazingly well-written. Kudos! You are a genius.