This is a guy speaking to a girl he's in an on-again-off-again, or very casual relationship with. He's very much in love with her and wishes he could have more than this with her, but isn't at all sure she feels the same way, and wonders if she even notices or cares how smitten he is with her. The title / first line is like what you might say if you shook somebody to try to get them to notice something that's right in front of their face.
This is one of those songs that pairs lyrics and melody that pack very different emotional punches. The lyrics are bittersweet frustration. The melody is playful and gentle, and wouldn't sound out of place on a calliope at a circus, or in one of Nintendo's game scored by Koji Kondo. This could be a simple case of less depth for people who just want some cheerful background music, and more depth and darkness for anyone who cares to analyze the lyrics more closely, like a lot of Steely Dan's songs. Or it could just signify that the narrator is kind of playing around himself, and doesn't take his situation all that seriously after all.
This is a guy speaking to a girl he's in an on-again-off-again, or very casual relationship with. He's very much in love with her and wishes he could have more than this with her, but isn't at all sure she feels the same way, and wonders if she even notices or cares how smitten he is with her. The title / first line is like what you might say if you shook somebody to try to get them to notice something that's right in front of their face.
This is one of those songs that pairs lyrics and melody that pack very different emotional punches. The lyrics are bittersweet frustration. The melody is playful and gentle, and wouldn't sound out of place on a calliope at a circus, or in one of Nintendo's game scored by Koji Kondo. This could be a simple case of less depth for people who just want some cheerful background music, and more depth and darkness for anyone who cares to analyze the lyrics more closely, like a lot of Steely Dan's songs. Or it could just signify that the narrator is kind of playing around himself, and doesn't take his situation all that seriously after all.