@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
He came from somewhere back in her long ago
The sentimental fool don't see
Trying hard to recreate what had yet to be created
Once in her life, she musters a smile for his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say
Only to realize it never really was
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
Than nothing at all keeps sending him
Somewhere back in her long ago
Where he can still believe there's a place in her life
Someday, somewhere, she will return
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be (if love can come and love can go, then why can't love return once more?)
Is always better than nothing
(Who got the power?)
Than nothing at all (oh, now)
What a fool believes he sees (I believe she's never gone away)
No wise man has the power
To reason away (to reason away)
What seems to be (oh, if love can come and love can go, oh, mama)
Is always better than nothing (better than nothing)
Than nothing at all (oh, I believe)
The sentimental fool don't see
Trying hard to recreate what had yet to be created
Once in her life, she musters a smile for his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say
Only to realize it never really was
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
Than nothing at all keeps sending him
Somewhere back in her long ago
Where he can still believe there's a place in her life
Someday, somewhere, she will return
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be (if love can come and love can go, then why can't love return once more?)
Is always better than nothing
(Who got the power?)
Than nothing at all (oh, now)
What a fool believes he sees (I believe she's never gone away)
No wise man has the power
To reason away (to reason away)
What seems to be (oh, if love can come and love can go, oh, mama)
Is always better than nothing (better than nothing)
Than nothing at all (oh, I believe)
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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Plastic Bag
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Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
You guys are near, but not quite. I read from an interview with Mcdonald that this song is about two people that used to date a long time ago and suddenly they encounter again randomly, so they make an appointment to talk in a restaurant. The thing is that within this restaurant date, the guy is in this awkward moment because he is telling the woman old stories about when they used to date and he realizes that she really doesn´t care about them. For the guy, she is the love of her life and he still can´t let her go, but for her he was just some guy from a long time ago and doesn´t care anymore. So here he is, at the end of the date, and he knows that he is not going to see her again, but still in a foolish way believes that in a mysterious way she is one dat going to show up and tell him she is in love with him, but for everyone it is obvious that she doesn´t care for him.
This is the same conclusion I came to from reading the lyrics and listening to different versions of the song after I got it stuck in my head.<br /> <br /> The crucial part of the song is the comparison: "She had a place in his life; he never made her think twice." This verse is comparing their points of view. First his point of view, that she was an important part of his life. Then her point of view, that she never thought about him more than once since they separated.<br /> <br /> That line had me confused for quite a while because I initially interpreted the "never made her think twice" line as meaning that she was certain about her feelings for him, or that he never challenged her and made her rethink herself. But now I believe it is meant to be taken literally: she did not think about him more than once.<br /> <br /> It's also interesting to note that in Aretha Franklin's cover of this song she switches around some of the pronouns in ways that really mess with this narrative. There's also a concert video of Kenny Loggins singing it where he switches around the pronouns in yet another way. So to some extent you can build a different narrative of unrequited love from these lyrics (and according to most songwriters, that's a good thing, if lyrics are vague enough that listeners can come up with their own story that's personally evocative to them). But if you take the Michael McDonald studio version as canonical, this is the story that makes the most sense.
@jimbo2 "never made her think twice" refers to her being completely sure about not wanting anything more from the guy when they were together, when they broke apart and also when they met again years later.
@Arthos Only quibble is he doesn't realize when she leaves that that's it. It isn't a big rekindling. It's just catch-up date she went through and will never repeat. See: "Anybody else could see.." He's still blind at the end of the date.<br /> <br /> Anybody else would surely know<br /> He's watching her go<br /> <br /> But what a fool believes he sees
I think you're spot on. "Trying hard to recreate what had yet to be created" is a brilliant lyric. He's reminiscing about something that never was. Sure, the events he's recounting probably happened but he remembers them (and her) fondly, and she barely remembers them (or him) at all.
@Arthos yep, yep, yep. You got it exactly right. My bro keeps searching FB, digging up people from our adolescence. Hey- I was there and I remember just struggling to get by- we had some fun, but not like I want or need to dredge that past up- it’s meaningless for me. Same with the lady in this great song- I can imagine her attitude as “yeah I was there.. I’m sure glad I graduated from that era!”
@Arthos “He never made her think twice” is definitely from her point of view…it is a clever, lyrical play on the phrase “she never gave him a second thought”…out of sight, out of mind…
@Arthos Makes sense
The explanation Arthos gives makes so much sense. I had a similar conversation with one of my best friends from childhood. I was recounting stories of things he and I did as kids; adventures we had; pranks we played. These are memories that have meant a lot to me over the years. At one point he said, "Gosh, how do you remember this stuff? I honestly don't have that many memories from when we were kids". For me, those memories had a place in my life. For him, they never made him think twice. Those events were more significant to me than they were to him.
As far as the song goes, I see it coming from the perspective of the guy. Over the years he has cherished memories of this girl and the times they had. All this time he thought she shared those memories too. And, now that they are together again, he thinks he can rekindle the relationship by recounting them. Unfortunately, she either forgot them, or never saw those experiences as important in the first place. He had always reserved a place for her in his memories, but she didn't do him the same courtesy. The more he tries to share what he sees as a common bond, the more it alienates her. Even as he thinks he is making progress, she is slipping away.
This song was about me... a fool who believed there was something there but there was nothing at all.
@olen Don't feel bad. This song has endured and been covered by dozens of big artist. There's a reason. Unrequited love is a universal human experience. Lots of people can relate to it's wisdom. The lesson is find someone who can see you through the same eyes.
@olen Me too
A lot of people seem to think this is a break up song or about getting rejecting, and I guess that's a valid interpretation, but to me it depicts the crumbling of a relationship that never that never took shape.
The protagonist likely doesn't even have a strong platonic connection with the woman in question, but rather a cursory one. And when you're lonely what seems to be is always better than nothing. What a devastating notion to wrap your head around.
@HansLucas So true!<br />
This is probably my favorite Doobie Brothers song. It's all so chill: the melody, the lyrics. As weird as it sounds, I feel like I'm transported back into 1978, a year I was never around to begin with. Truly a warm, amazing song.
I always thought it meant she was scarred from a past relationship and now the guy who loves her now has no idea how she was ruined for love by someone else.."somewhere back in her long ago" gave me reason to think that.
An incredibly sad tune about a man who's deluded by his love for a woman. The guy doesn't realize that not only is she going to leave him ("anybody else would surely know he's watching her go"), but she's never coming back ("why can't love return once more"). In love, hope springs eternal. And in this case, it's the hope of a fool.
@drucifer23 that;s sad.
Mloma has it nailed...almost...
and here is why...We have a tenancy not to age the people we have loved or love over long periods of time. We view this relationship as static...everything sort of freezes until the next interaction or meeting "updates" our memory.
Here is what I would add...she once loved him...at the time he was not ready...since then, over time, she moved on. Time passes and he now believes there is a place in her life but now she has moved on.
I think it's about the guy remembering her more fondly than she remembers him. He was infatuated with her, but he "never made her think twice." They run into each other and he tells her some story from the past that she doesn't remember or care much about. <br /> <br /> In his mind, she was important to him and he had feelings for her. She didn't feel the same way. "As he rises to her apology, anybody else would surely know, he's watching her go." <br /> <br /> She's saying "It was nice to run into you again, but I've got to go." She apologizes for cutting his reminiscence short and leaving, but it meant nothing to her anyway. He'd built up the fantasy possibility of their having had something, while she never thought they did.
I think one point that is wrong that has been repeated a lot here, is that she was ever in love with him. She wasn't, he was. That's why she had a place in HIS life, but he never made her think twice. In over words, she didn't give him a "second thought".
And the line-
"Trying hard to recreate What had yet to be created once in her life"
He was trying to rekindle an old romance that never existed in the first place. Not even once in her life.
That last part could be interpreted in two ways-
"not once in her life had she loved HIM" or "not once in her life had she loved ANYONE". She really sounds heartless, and he is truly a fool caring for such a person. I bet he has cats.
Pretty interesting how the lyrics for this song are always printed one way and sung another. Every printed version says: "But what a fool believes he sees, No wise man has the power to reason away." This makes no sense. The words he sings make much better sense: "But what a fool believes he sees, The wise man has the power to reason away." Changing "no" to "the" makes all the difference in the meaning. The fool wants her to love him so he sees things that aren't there. This is what makes him a fool. But the wise man knows better. He has experience and can see through her deception and lies. If no wise man knew better then every guy would be clueless.
@boogie1100 I think I’m going to review the song and edit the lyrics. Most song transliterations are pretty bad
@boogie1100 I think I’m going to review the song and edit the lyrics. Most song transliterations are pretty bad
@boogie1100 I think I’m going to review the song and edit the lyrics. Most song transliterations are pretty bad
@boogie1100 I believe those are the correct lyrics in the context of the whole sentence - No wise man has the power to reason away what a fool believes. because anybody else would surely know that. <br /> <br /> But the fool - the man who is foolishly in an unrequited love situation - cannot see anything but his fantasy of her being in love with him. and there exists no wise man who has the power to reason that away.<br /> <br /> She has probably strung him along in "friend zone" for the entire relationship, and deep inside, he'd rather go on believing he has a chance than to win her love than to lose the little relationship he has. A wise man would move on to someone else.