The Promise

This was my theme song when I was trying to get my wife to marry me. She was (and still is) sooo beautiful and was going to law school. I was just a nerd with an engineering degree. It worked. I made her laugh enough that she fell in love. Today we have three beautiful daughters. I found this web site searching for the lyrics to this song. Why? Because they LOVE the movie Napolean Dynamite. To me, the movie is too close to home ;-)

One night for no reason whatsoever I left my house at 1am, went to a random club downtown Toronto, asked the DJ to play this song, and I 'danced' alone to it. Granted, I was on morphine and healing from a surgery, so I probably looked strange dancing slowly in a haze, but I had SO much fun! Not even sure why I chose this song but it sounded so good that night.

I see it as a very lovely song, a song about true love. I think it also paints a picture of the evolving relationship of the man and the woman he's singing to. It starts out with him being inexplicably attracted to this woman. He spends his days pining for her, but he's a very shy person, so he has trouble approaching her and telling her how feels. He's afraid she won't see him the way he sees her. The line "If you need a friend, don't look to a stranger, you know in the end, I'll always be there.", suggests that he is already friends with this woman, and wants to be more, but is too shy to tell her. This is what is meant by "I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say...I'll make you fall for me...he's already fallen for her, but now he just needs to make sure she feels the same.

Eventually, they do realize they are both in love with each other, and this is the part of the relationship where they are together and very happy, and wish things would stay like that forever. But then comes a stormy time in their lives. I believe that's what is meant by the line "Sometimes if I shout, it's not what's intended, these words just come out, with no cross to bear", this is where some people think it's negative, but I don't believe that is what's meant at all. The line that comes right before that is "When your day is through, and so is your temper, this implies that they are going through a more stressful time in their lives, and that when she comes home from work, she's so stressed out that she yells at him, and he yells back, but then regrets it because he never wants to hurt her feelings, even though she takes out her frustration and stress on him. It then goes back to the earlier lines of the songs, but now the words "I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say are a promise to her, just like they were in the beginning, basically that they are in it for the long haul and their love is strong and unbreakable.

His promise to her is that just like from when he first met her, he will always love her, even if she feels that her life is falling into shambles and that he feels her going apart from him, he still loves her deeply, and that promise is never broken.

Yes, I'm only the fourth person to check this out after hearing the song at the end of "Napoleon Dynamite" and comment on it. You know that's why you're here if you're under the age of 25.

I think that this song has something to do with falling in love with your best friend.

Here's a whole new take on this song´s meaning (People are going to hate me for this): This song is the story of what an abandoned puppy at a dog pound thinks when he sees a person walking around choosing his new pet. Given the time, he thinks this whole song while he sees the person walk away (But if you'll wait around awhile, I'll make you fall for me)That's it, the promise from a dog to his future master.

Gosh, I prefer the normal interpretation, otherwise it will just be too depressing, the whole scene on my imagination almost made me cry X-D

haha definitely :D such a good song to end the movie.

yay for one hit wonders!!!

ahahahaha this song makes me think NAPOLEON. im sorry for all the ppl that loved it before, but i love it now. dynamite for life.

is about being a friend, and telling that is capable to do ANYTHING to get/reach her/his heart

I really love the chorus of this song. Yeah, I first heard it in ND, but the first time I really listened to it was on the radio. After it came on, the DJ said "I always want to put my hair in a side ponytail when I hear that song," causing my stepmom great confusion.

Anyway, yeah I think the meaning's been pegged down. About trying to woo (love that word) someone you've been friends with for a long time. I'm feeling like that a little bit right now, and have in the past. This song just got the feeling down better than I ever could.