WHY?
(words and music by Rick
Springfield)
I don't know how
To tell you who I am
Try to justify
You'd still deny I'm a man
I never understood it
So I don't expect you to
But I can't change now, Love
Just for you
Maybe it's better
That you know at last
Though I am sorry
It all happened so fast
We might have lasted longer
If I told you when we met
But it's an old song
You'd best forget
Why did you love me
Lord did I let her down
Why did she never understand me
Why did she love me
Lord did I let her down
Why is it so hard to be yourself
Maybe it's better
That you know at last
Though I am sorry
It all happened so fast
I never understood it
So I don't expect you to
But I can't change now, Love
Just for you
Why did you love me
Lord did I let her down
Why did she never understand me
Why did she love me
Lord did I let her down
Why is it so hard to be yourself
(Now that it's over)
Why did you love me
Lord did I let her down
Why did she never understand me
Why did she love me
Lord did I let her down
Why is it so hard to be yourself
(total playing time: 3:59)
Song Facts: this can be found on
Beginnings.
PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS WRITTEN IN A SOMEWHAT TONGUE-IN-CHEEK MANNER, so please don't take it too seriously.
I've listened to this song several times over the last month while getting more familiar
with the songs on this album. I always thought of it as a sweet love gone wrong
song, loved Rick's voice, but never really concentrated on what I thought he was talking
about. Then one day the line "I never understood it", just hit me smack in
the face.....what is "it"? "maybe it's better that you know at
last"....know what?????? Then it hits me.....OMG this is Rick Springfield's
coming out of the closet song.....he's gay.....this made so much sense...."you'd deny
I'm a man", "Why is it so hard to be myself"........but no, it couldn't be. Then, about a week
after this concept came to me, in comes the calendar, and I flip to June......I see the
left side picture and I think "there is not a heterosexual gene in this man's
body".....The wife, the kids, his fixation on breasts lately....it's all a cover
up......
Ok, I don't really think he's gay, and the next verse "we may have lasted sooner, if
I told you when we met" kind of blows that theory anyway, if he had told her sooner,
it would have ended then. I do believe that "it" is something very
specific though and it's a mystery I'd love to see solved. What was "it"
he was hiding/covering up that she found out about that ended the relationship. I'm
dying to know.
Ok, so you've all piqued my curiosity so
I've gone and looked at the words..this is what I think "it"may have
been...
I don't know how to tell you who I am
Try to justify
you'd still deny I'm a man
It sounds like a relationship started where the woman didn't know him as a
musician, then
found out about his 'fame"(thinking with Zoot here) and saw him in a different light,
not just a man anymore, but a celebrity.
I never understood it
so I don't expect you to
but I can't change now love
just for you
I think "it" refers to his need to succeed in music, his drive for
fame, and
he's not willing to give it up even for her.
Maybe its better that you know at last
though I am sorry
it all happened so fast
He's always had plans to leave, not looking for anything permanent, but 'it' the
relationship happened so fast.
We might have lasted longer if I told you when we met
but its an old song you best forget
If he'd told her up front his plans maybe they could have worked around it, or just taken
it casually
why did you love me
lord did I let her down
why did she never understand me
why did she love me
lord did I let her down
why is it so hard to be yourself
Again, he wasn't looking for a relationship, didn't mean for her to fall in love, she
could never understand his need to succeed, and all he wants to do is his music (be
yourself), but he doesn't want to hurt her either.
I have NO clue what he is talking about in this song......This
would be a good one to get to grill Rick about.
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I love this song! I
think his voice sounds so soft and beautiful. It's definitely a sad sort of ballad.
I just really can't figure what he's singing about. Maybe, it's about a girl loving
him because he's a rock star. You know being in Zoot and that kind of thing. The girl
loved him because of who she thought he was, but that wasn't him at all. And he didn't
truly act himself throughout the short relationship. Someone he really liked, but now he
regrets that he didn't let the barriers down sooner because when he did, she left him. Not
sure, because of the "why did I let her down".
Or maybe there was something that he was hiding from her and when he finally told her, she
couldn't handle it and left. It's a very confusing song to me. This would be a good
song to find out the reasoning behind.
But, it is also one of my favorites on Beginning
Why??? Why indeed. This song breaks my heart that poor
Rick's heart has been broken. Then it makes me angry what kind of woman dumps Rick
Springfield. It's unimaginable. The nerve of some women. LOL.
I'm kind of amazed at Rick's faith throughout the earlier LPs. I guess I never
analyzed each song before this group was formed. I'm usually more interested in the
melody and how it
makes me feel. A good majority of the songs reference God or a higher power that
Rick looked to while he was troubled or mending a broken heart. What a gentle spirit
he is... then and now.
Why is such a soft, crooning song. It reminds me of one of those ballads where you'd see
a singer just staring out into the audience at one person - kinda like a commercial -- where the focus is
directed to one single person -- with the spotlight shining on them as we see our Star
sing staring into their eyes....
The beat of the song makes me helpless to tap my toes, as we hear Rick's soft voice
seeking the forgiveness of his love. "But I can't change now, Love just for
you." He does not understand how she loved him despite his faults. I sense an
unfaithful guilt coming through kind of a song in the song. I wonder what the background
is that made Rick write this one. Perhaps the 70s era had a strong effect on him, perhaps
there is a secret passion only the writer *really* knows.
"Maybe it's better That you know at last" The words of rationalization are the
theme that brings the song together. We hear our hero reflect on the past and try to come
to a self understanding of what happened. The song is sad, it shows growth and maturing,
perhaps in a time of lots of carefree actions and experiences.
Now we go from my selection for a remake, to the one that makes
me sad. Every time I listen to it, I just find myself asking more questions that I'll
probably never get the answer to. Then I wonder, well...is it the questions in the
song that make me ask more questions? It's questionable :-) So now I'm gonna
make you all go, hmmm.
I realized on about, oh, the 100th listen through that only male songwriters are mature
enough to express their emotions to the whole world like this. The first two stanzas
of the song would put me in a puddle of tears if I had received them written from someone
I loved. "I don't know how to tell you who I am. Try to justify you'd
still deny I'm a man" What in the heck is he trying so hard to say? He
screwed up because he's a man? I'm lost here. Why does he have to tell me who
he is? "I never understood it, so I don't expect you to but I can't change now,
love just for you." How come? Doesn't love or being in love make you want
to be a better person? The next stanza sounds to me like he is trying to break
up or break off this relationship, and he hates to have to do it, but he is anyway.
"Maybe it's better that you know at last though I am sorry it all happened so
fast" Their relationship? Sex? But then he sings, "We might
have lasted longer if I told you when we met, but it's an old song you'd best
forget". Told me what? How would "we" have lasted longer?
Okey dokey, on to the chorus, "Why did you love me, Lord did I let her down.
Why did she never understand me, why did she love me". Sigh. I
wish I knew. Especially the last line, "Why is it so hard to be yourself".
No one knows the easy answer to that one.
I give up. All I know is, I know why this song is titled "Why?".
That's what I keep asking every time I listen to it. Why did you write it?
Why is it on the album now? (after Come on Everybody-a very upbeat, light song)
He he...I just realized those last two questions can be sung in tune with the song.
Now I KNOW I've listened to it too much.
What is he talking about? I had never even
really listened to the words before. Is this a song where he has been unfaithful?
"try to justify, you'd still deny I'm a man"--could he be meaning trying
to justify cheating and the female still telling him he is a "boy",
"childish"?? whatever! I'm not sure.
" never understood it So I don't expect you to But I can't change now, Love Just for
you"" is this in reference to being a male and running around? Ya know,
like, men just can't help it!! lol I'm at a loss---
BUT , I do really like the song, again that young, whispering , sexy voice.
Ok, I have been hesitating to share what I
REALLY wonder about this one...but what the heck. Here goes....................
I also have been contemplating what "WHY" really means? It is a
beautiful song, probably in my top 3 favorites on Beginnings, but it is perplexing.
After my first few listens I thought maybe "it" (from "I never understood
it") was his constant quest for fame? Maybe that hurt the relationship?
Then I thought....maybe "it" is an inability to be faithful? But the line
that kept hanging me up was "you'd still deny I am a man"?
Then, that fateful day a few weeks back, I received my glorious 2003 calendar. It is
stunning.... if March does not take a person's breath away I am not sure what will.
But then, oh dear, then I turned to June. Wow. That is the moment a whole
different spin popped in my mind.....because of those jeans with the midriff baring
shirt. Maybe it was just the way people dressed in the 1970's. Ummm, I
am ashamed and embarrassed to even think it - NOT that there is ANYTHING wrong with it -
(I do love Seinfeld) but I just never thought about that and Rick Springfield in the same
thought. And I even doubt it was true. I certainly do not think it is true
now....maybe then? I don't know. A few other lines just don't support my
thought....."we might have lasted longer if I had told you when we met"....this
does not gel. But the 1st 2 stanzas do. Did anyone else even think this or am
I just a wacko that should maybe start to follow Michael Jackson???? I AM JOKING.
Things that make you go "hmmmmm".
I've read that some people don't get Why.
I'm not sure I get what Rick was saying either, but I know what I hear in it... so here
goes.
The way I understand the song... Rick is saying that she saw in him what he wanted
her to see, not what he really was. Like he had his walls up and mask on so
that she'd think he was this perfect, wonderful, flawless man... but in reality he was a
crotch scratching, lude, rude, jerk just like the rest of the guys. I'm not saying
that Rick is all those things, it's just an example. I'm just saying that he made
her believe one thing, when it really wasn't true. But it all happened so fast that he
couldn't change it quick enough for her to see the real him, and then it was too
late. She would think he was a schmuck, a child in a mans body and toss him aside
and move on.
This part...
I never understood it
So I don't expect you to
But I can't change now, Love
Just for you
I understand to be that he doesn't know why he can't just be himself, faults and all, so
he doesn't expect her to understand either.
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