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I confess, I messed up
Dropping "I'm sorry" like you're still around
And I know you dressed up
Hey kid you'll never live this down
And you're just the girl all the boys want to dance with
And I'm just the boy who's had too many chances
I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming
She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"
I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
She said, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late
Write me off, give up on me
'Cause darling what did you expect
I'm just off a lost cause
A long shot, don't even take this bet
You can make all the moves, you can aim all the spotlights
Get all the sighs and the moans just right
I'm just always on
You said you'd keep me honest
(you're always on)
But I won't call you on it
Dropping "I'm sorry" like you're still around
And I know you dressed up
Hey kid you'll never live this down
And you're just the girl all the boys want to dance with
And I'm just the boy who's had too many chances
I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming
She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"
I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
She said, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late
Write me off, give up on me
'Cause darling what did you expect
I'm just off a lost cause
A long shot, don't even take this bet
You can make all the moves, you can aim all the spotlights
Get all the sighs and the moans just right
I'm just always on
You said you'd keep me honest
(you're always on)
But I won't call you on it
Lyrics submitted by BrandNew1208, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 02:50
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me" song meanings
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All he has left to say to her these days is "I'm sorry" because she rejected him and they have nothing to talk about anymore. He knows she's "dressed up" every night, going out and just enjoying her life without him. He'll never live it down because he messed up something so beautiful over something so meaningless.
He probably has a good relationship with her parents still so he's on their metaphorical "porch." He dreams about her a lot and the words that cut him the deepest - "Why don't you just drop dead?!"
She was the girl every guy wanted and he could have had. But he took advantage of her affection and pushed his luck too many times. He acknowledges that it's OK to be the way she is but also admits the fact that he can't stand it sometimes. Maybe she's young, so she's immature. That's normal and nothing she should be scorned for. But when she acted self-absorbed, oblivious, and ditsy, it had a negative impact on their relationship, which upset him. He could never handle it well when that happened.
He expresses that he's always late with his emotions and apologies so now he sets his clocks early. He should have kissed her when the time was right. He had so many chances but never used them. He says he's no good and that she should have known better. He says if she's smart, she'll ignore him from now on even though all he wants is to be with her.
She's good at making him the bad guy and putting everything wrong he's done in the spotlight. She makes a convincing argument as to why they should go their own separate ways. She's told him before "I'll always keep you honest" (maybe in a jokingly, flirtatious manner when he tried telling her once about his past mistakes with other girls). "But I won't call you on it" clearly conveys that she could NOT keep him honest and he was deceitful anyway.
I think I can understand the true meaning of this song because I've been in this exact same situation. I'm still in it, actually. Except I gave her one last apology and finally cut it off with her after not being friends for three months. I never made a move because she had a boyfriend and I never wanted to betray her trust. But that didn't stop her from wanting to come over to my house and watch movies with me, cuddled up together on my couch. I should have kissed her when I had the chance because she ended up breaking up with her boyfriend just after we had our worst (and last) argument.
In fact, I think the meaning of the song title "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'" literally means "Let's stop watching Sixteen Candles and make out instead"
The way I see it, the song is about having feelings towards someone, a significant other - crushes, perhaps even falling in love.
The narrator has fallen for a girl that's out of his league - a "girl all the boys wanna dance with". He'd love to tell her about his feelings but he fears it is too late, as if he's "just a boy who's had too many chances" to speak about his feelings but he has failed to do so.
Finally, he encourages himself and comes clean with the girl, but she feels he is too late and is frustrated with his unability to talk about his feelings earlier and gets mad at him - "she said, she said, she said, "why don't you just drop dead?".
After this, the narrator comes crawling back to her, begging for her forgiveness and another chance - "I confess, I messed up". He's "dropping "I'm sorry" like [she's] still around" to hear his apologies but she has already moved on. He also tries hard to move on and covers his sorrow with hatred and anger, trying to make the girl feel guilty - "I don't blame you for being you but you can't blame me for hating it."
He is finally able to move on to the next one, but this time, he is better prepared, as he "sets his clocks early, 'cause he knows he's always late", and encourages us, the ones listening to him, to talk about our feelings earlier, "so say, what are you waiting for? kiss her, kiss her".
Finally, the song title. It was originally called "A Little Less Molly Ringwald, a Little More Samantha Fox". Molly Ringwald starred as the main actress in Sixteen Candles (see what they did there?), a 1984 movie about Samantha (Ringwald), who's craving for attention from his crush, a popular boy at school. Meanwhile, Ted, a loser, a kid known as "the geek" is dying for her attention. Samantha Fox, however, recorded a song called "Touch Me", a sexually charged track about the narrator looking for someone to have sex with. So basically, what the song title tells us is that Pete wishes for a little less desperate looking for love and more working, sexual relationships in his life. He's a genious.
I like it. It's a very realistic take on a breakup -- "I'm pissed off at you, but at the same time, I didn't want to lose you."
I confess, I messed up, dropping "I'm sorry"s like you're still around.
(Pretty straightforward, IMO. He's apologizing, but she doesn't care)
And I know you dressed up "Hey, kid, you'll never live this down."
(She tried to let him down easy, making up an excuse, but he knows that he screwed up badly.)
'Cause you're just the girl all the boys wanna dance with, and I'm just the boy who's had too many chances.
(She has so many other options that she's done trying to make it happen with him.)
I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming she said, she said, she said "Why don't you just drop dead?"
(This seems to allude to him being at her place and then getting kicked out when stuff hits the fan, and he's mentally replaying her "dressed up" letdown as her just telling him to drop dead.)
I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it.
So say, "What are you waiting for? Kiss her, kiss her"
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late
(These lines are a look into Pete's mind as he's fighting with the girl. It's probably a petty argument, but probably also one of many, and because of it, she's questioning if he really loves her, and he knows that he should just end the fight by going in for the kiss [and effectively apologizing], but by the time it's actually clicked, she's kicked him out of her room.)
Write me off, give up on me, 'cause, darling, what do you expect?
I'm just off, a lost cause, a long shot. Don't even take this bet.
(This is him sarcastically responding to her protests about their relationship: "No, you're right, I'm a terrible person. Don't bother with me." I think his use of "darling" underscores the sarcasm.)
You can make all the moves, you can aim all the spotlights. Get all the sighs and the moans just right.
(He's talking about how you can stage a perfect relationship, but in the end, it's just a porno.)
I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming she said, she said, she said "Why don't you just drop dead?"
I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it
So say, "What are you waiting for? Kiss her, kiss her"
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late.
(Always on, always on)
You said you'd keep me honest
(Always on, always on)
But I won't call you on it
(Always on, always on)
(I think this is saying that she had been talking about their relationship in a long-term sense. Now that they're apparently breaking up, he's not gonna call her out for it.)
I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, "What are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her"
I set my clocks early
'Cause I know I'm always late
I set my clocks early
'Cause I know I'm always late
Basically, I have been a complete idiot and told somebody I know something concerning my friend, and they bullshitted to other people ("I confess, I messed up"), and she has been blanking me and all I can do is apologise ("dropping 'I'm sorry' like your still around"). And now she's being a total bitch to me about it, but she isn't exactly popular, but for some reason she thinks everyone loves her ("You dressed up, hey kid, you'll never live this down").
We share the same friends and they have all sided with her ("Cos your just the girl all the boys want to dance with"), and I'm not a boy, but I've definately had "too many chances". And it's clear by the way she's acting she wants me to drop dead.
And so really, I don't blame her for being the way she is at the moment, but she can't blame me for hating her for it. She left me to OD on pills for gods sake. And I fear I've left the repairation of our friendship too late. So I think she's "written me off" and "given up on me", and I have become a lost cause, no one can help me, so she shouldn't bother trying to help me ("Don't even take this bet"), and she won't listen to me anymore, so I don't see the point in trying ("But I won't call you on it").
So yeah, in a weird way, I can relate to this in a totally different way to other people. And I know I've done wrong, but I have said sorry over and over again, and she did say she wasn't bothered by it, but she's just being a total bitch, and she knows I have problems, so I'm like "Whatever, I don't care anymore"...