I was waiting for a cross-town train
In the London underground
When it struck me
That I've been waiting since birth to find
A love that would look and sound
Like a movie
So I changed my plans
I rented a camera and a van
And then I called you
"I need you to pretend that we are in love again"
And you agreed to

I want so badly to believe
That there is truth, that love is real
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd

I greased the lens and framed the shot
Using a friend
As my stand-in
The script, it called for rain
But it was clear that day
So we faked it
The marker snapped
And I yelled, "Quiet on the set!"
And then called, "Action!"
And I kissed you in a style
Clark Gable would have admired
(I thought it classic)

I want so badly to believe
That there is truth, that love is real
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd

I know you're wise beyond your years
But do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie
You tell yourself to help you get by?


Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28

Clark Gable song meanings
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100 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    who doesnt want to be kissed in a style clark gable would have admired?

    i do.

    kiss45onmylipson May 02, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    come on now.......this is easily in the top 3 postal service songs.. who hasn't thought this "i want so badly to believe that "there is truth, that love is real"

    mockorange13on June 20, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I want to believe that there is truth and that love is real. and apparenltly i'm not the only one.

    gigglegirl53187on September 20, 2004   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    wow,

    i cant believe that i'm the only one who's thought of this, but has anyone seen the movie "1984"? the meaning of the movie is exactly the meaning to this song. the best part about it its that the harmonic tune you hear in the beginning of the song is the same tune you hear throughout the movies' soundtrack.

    the main caracter of the film lives in a totalitarian state that is trying to ban love, as well as all of the other things that go along with totalitarian state type movies.

    one of the main themes of the movie is that "big brother" watches everything and there are television screens everywhere with is face looking down at you. giving the impression that themain charaters life is only a movie to "big brother".

    if no one else has seen it, please see it and let me know if i'm on to something here...

    neocataboion March 29, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    um, is it just me? i totally disagree w/ everyone on the meaning of this song. i think he is trying to say that a love like a movie is completely unfeasible and fake. love like a movie? it's so fake, it can't be real. meaning, he called this girl he use to love up on the phone, and was like, listen, i'm lonely, so let's pretend we are in love so we can fill the void of our lives. (it's a fake love like the movie). and if you don't know who clark gable is, you need to rent gone with the wind immediately.

    elodieon June 12, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I agree that the song is about wanting things to be perfect, movie-like. But the first few times I heard it, I thought it was about making a porno.

    He sitting there and gets the idea to make a movie and rents "a camera and a van," then calls his old girlfriend and asks her "to pretend that we are in love again." He frames the shot. "The script it called for rain but it was clear that day so we faked it"... and then he yells action and starts kissing her.

    Did anyone else get the idea that this was what it's about? I don't think it is; it's just a thought.

    thiskidon September 29, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Has anyone else noticed the backmasking at the end of the song? She sings something backwards, I am really curious to know what she says. Great song by the way. :)

    EwokEmpireon November 12, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    It's like this idea that if you adhere to the right standard or form, if you have the classic kiss or the right line, if everything's perfect and staged, then your love is 'real' and 'truthful'...and I think the narrator is just realizing how crap that whole idea was and is just getting it out of his system.

    Like the last few lines - "the fear your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by." That instead of figuring out why we can't love what we have, we go chasing effigies of perfection and we take lines from songs and characters from movies as the mythological ghost ships that we chase -- and maybe it's comforting to just get lost in that chase when we can't find the love we're looking for.

    Gamaon December 24, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    the backtrack says:

    It struck me (When it struck me) It struck me (It struck me)

    jmfan82xxon February 09, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    The backwards talk at the end of the song. I flipped it around using goldwave. It may sound like I have a dirty mind, but it sounds like "fk me, (fk me)and she struck me (struck me)" but man i'll feel like an idiot if thats not what he and she are saying...

    syran_wrapon April 06, 2005   Link

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