There's a lot of discussion here about how the song is from a male perspective and how it probably is less than sincere. That makes for an interesting take, but I suspect that's not what is happening here.
This was the first of several collaborations between Hall and Janna Allen, the younger sister of Hall's long term partner, Sara Allen (she of Sara Smile fame). Janna brought the lyrics to Hall. If you consider that the lyrics were written by a 23-year-old woman who worked as a receptionist, rather than an older rock star, all that cynicism seems less likely. Allen had aspirations to become an artist herself, and if you look at other compositions of hers, the lyrics were coy and flirty, but always a bit syrupy, even if genuine. One need not leave Hall and Oates' catalog to see more of this flavor in "Private Eyes" and "Did It in a Minute". In the case of all these tracks, Allen brought largely intact songs to Hall, who only made minor tweaks to the lyrics while adding the soul influenced rock chord progressions and pop-friendly new wave elements that he was doing better than anyone else in the world in the early 1980s.
I think in that context, the song is less about a deceptive guy trying to get laid, as suggested in other comments, and more the earnest, flirty but innocent (and possibly naive) words of a young woman that are turned into a classic when reinterpreted by a pop balladeer in his thirties who gave the words gravitas and soul, akin to the best Motown classics, albeit redressed in radio friendly new wave sounds of the time.
There's a lot of discussion here about how the song is from a male perspective and how it probably is less than sincere. That makes for an interesting take, but I suspect that's not what is happening here.
This was the first of several collaborations between Hall and Janna Allen, the younger sister of Hall's long term partner, Sara Allen (she of Sara Smile fame). Janna brought the lyrics to Hall. If you consider that the lyrics were written by a 23-year-old woman who worked as a receptionist, rather than an older rock star, all that cynicism seems less likely. Allen had aspirations to become an artist herself, and if you look at other compositions of hers, the lyrics were coy and flirty, but always a bit syrupy, even if genuine. One need not leave Hall and Oates' catalog to see more of this flavor in "Private Eyes" and "Did It in a Minute". In the case of all these tracks, Allen brought largely intact songs to Hall, who only made minor tweaks to the lyrics while adding the soul influenced rock chord progressions and pop-friendly new wave elements that he was doing better than anyone else in the world in the early 1980s.
I think in that context, the song is less about a deceptive guy trying to get laid, as suggested in other comments, and more the earnest, flirty but innocent (and possibly naive) words of a young woman that are turned into a classic when reinterpreted by a pop balladeer in his thirties who gave the words gravitas and soul, akin to the best Motown classics, albeit redressed in radio friendly new wave sounds of the time.