He Said, She Said

It seems so strange

You always want what you can't have

He thought to himself

A slow, fine intro. Kind of what I'd been thinking to myself at the time, how I tend to like girls who are in relationships.

He said "You know I've done this twice before

and if you would please listen, I must explore

this possibility, if you'd spend a week with me"

The guy's first dialogue. He's basically saying, "I've asked you out twice, and you've rejected me, but listen to my proposition. Let's try going out for a week, as a trial run, just so you can know what it's like before you just say no." I almost said that to a girl.

She said, "You're stupid, I've got no time.

I've got no good reason, you've got no good rhyme.

You've got nineteen, blackjack, babe, don't hit on this."

The girl's first retort. Much like the girl I'd almost done this to, she overreacts something major, and says "No. I've got no decent reason why, but no." I rather like the blackjack line, like "If you try this one more time, you're gonna lose all you've got." It also means "Don't hit on me."

He said, she said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah"

But she said, she said, "No"

Communication's broken down

He said "Will you, won't you, would you like to go.."

The first chorus. He, obviously lovestruck, misunderstands all of this and tells his friends she said "yes" while she tells her friends she said "no."

He said, "Babe, you know this ain't no one-night stand.

The Germans say, 'Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand,'

I ain't a basketball, I don't want to rebound on your heart."

He's being completely straight with her. He's just telling it like it is. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand is German for "I want to hold your hand." I put that in the song as a nod to the Beatles, who recorded "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in English and in German. I think the basketball line is particularly clever, especially for me.

She said "Well, I don't really know.

As long as we take it really slow.

But don't say 'Sie Leibt Dich,' we're just starting off"

Having heard him be straightforward to her, the girl starts to change her mind and consider it, but insists they take it slow. Sie Leibt Dich is German for "she loves you." Another nod to the Beatles, who recorded "She Loves You" in English and German. I also threw that in to counter the other German, so that she's saying "Don't think I'm in love with you," but it also is a little signal to him that she shares an interest in either The Beatles or the German language.

He said, she said, "No, no, no"

But she said, she said "Yeah"

Optimism's broken down

She said "I guess this means we're going out tonight."

They switch viewpoints. She tells her friends they're going out, but the guy, having not gotten what he was looking for, tells his friends he was rejected. His overreactive optimism has shut down. I like the ending line, kind of as an epilogue.

I had wanted to write a song that, in two and a half minutes, presented an identifiable story with identifiable characters and a catchy melody. I thought back to when I almost asked a girl out on a "trial relationship" and wondered about how that situation would play out. It certainly wouldn't have ended the same, but I wanted to give the song a happy ending. The song's got the kind of "Hit The Road Jack" descending minor key, and the last line ends on a major chord, to go along with the story. I also wrote this song in C#m (C sharp minor) with the intention of putting the capo on the fourth fret, so give the strings a thinner, higher, more tense sound. I had written most of this song in math class on February 19th (I put the date on the side of every lyric I write, so I can think back to what was happening in my life at that time). I didn't have a guitar with me (naturally), so I waited until I got home to write out the chords. I only sang it out loud three times (once alone, twice for friends) before performing it at the 2008 Songwriter's Showcase, so I hoped it was perfect, and it got a better reception than the song I was originally going to perform ("Gem").