This would seem to be a straightforward song--the singer wants his sweetheart to 'be for real' as opposed to being false, or perhaps hiding things to protect the beloved. At the same time, he sends mixed messages that seem to say 'don't be for real / because I don't want to be hurt...' Consider the following:
So don't give me the world today
And tomorrow take it away.
Don't do that to me, darling.
Just be for real won't you, Baby
Be for real won't you, Baby
What if, for the beloved, their passions are so volatile that they are being for real when they give and take the world in an instant? What if the beloved does in fact feel ambivalent about whether they need the other?
Are you back in my life to stay
Or is it just for today
Oh that you're gonna need me?
The speaker claims he can handle the truth, but just as important to the song is the refrain 'I don't want to be hurt by love again'. Near the end, he sums up the contradictory message in a neat package:
(I don't give a damn about the truth, Baby
Except for the naked truth. Oh yeah)
Why is this in parentheses? It makes one wonder about whether the speaker is even being 'real' with himself.
This would seem to be a straightforward song--the singer wants his sweetheart to 'be for real' as opposed to being false, or perhaps hiding things to protect the beloved. At the same time, he sends mixed messages that seem to say 'don't be for real / because I don't want to be hurt...' Consider the following:
So don't give me the world today And tomorrow take it away. Don't do that to me, darling.
Just be for real won't you, Baby Be for real won't you, Baby
What if, for the beloved, their passions are so volatile that they are being for real when they give and take the world in an instant? What if the beloved does in fact feel ambivalent about whether they need the other?
Are you back in my life to stay Or is it just for today Oh that you're gonna need me?
The speaker claims he can handle the truth, but just as important to the song is the refrain 'I don't want to be hurt by love again'. Near the end, he sums up the contradictory message in a neat package:
(I don't give a damn about the truth, Baby Except for the naked truth. Oh yeah)
Why is this in parentheses? It makes one wonder about whether the speaker is even being 'real' with himself.