If you ever catch me slagging someone off for being unbearably winsome and lightweight, remind me that I, Ian Freud, wrote this at the age of 45, while sporting a beard.
Lyrics
I can hardly believe that we breathe the same air
It seems impossible and she
has got the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen
I get tongue tied and predictable and so
I have to dream from afar like a fool
It’s sad and unavoidable and yet
I can never let anyone know cos they’ll say
That it’s unreasonable
So I am just impossibly me
Just as she must irredeemably be
Quite unavailable to me
Must I remain chained to this page
Just looking for the syllables
To say things that are true or
Could it be that this melody is unfillable?
While I remain invisibly me
And she must be irredeemably be
Quite unavailable
Sometimes I feel the words on my lips
Sometimes I feel like just losing my grip
Sometimes I feel like I’m going insane
No. I think I’ll stay quiet and pretend
That it’s almost undetectable
Although I give it away in every way
That it’s almost inconceivableThat she cannot possibly see
That I will always be unavoidably me
Quite available and free
Thoughts
The plinky-plonky glockenspiel type motif that characterises this song actually dates back….ooooh…. goodness knows how many years. It’s played on my cheap, terrible Casio keyboard, which I play in a cheap, terrible way. While stabbing half-heartedly at it the other day in a state of lockdown ennui, it came swimming back from my memory, sparking that old familiar “hmmm” feeling.
I’m not much of a keyboardists, so even this simple figure took a good dozen takes, but it provided a pleasingly twee backdrop on which to layer some subtle bass, piano and strings… leaving only the melody and lyrics.
Quite obviously, it’s the drippiest thing ever written, so the sighing feel to the melody seemed obvious once I’d hit on it. As usual, the lyrics took some doing. You’ll noticed in the second verse there’s a bit explicitly about writing lyrics, because I’m dead meta and that.
Anyway, it’s a sort of yearning memory of the feeling of young love – when it’s overwhelming and you daren’t admit to your feelings. I imagine that’s a fairly universal experience for everyone.
And, of course, it’s a good 3000 years since I’ve felt that way myself, which may be why, nice as it is, the song doesn’t quite resonate with me on a personal level.
So, there you have it. What else can you say about a song this simple?
Nothing.