If You Ask Me To
Unraveling Desires: Luke Elliot's Poetic Odyssey in 'If You Ask Me To'
Lyrics
Well, the phone rang at nine o´clock
The speaker received a phone call at 9 o'clock.
I rolled out of bed in some little Parisian flop
The speaker got out of bed in a small Parisian place.
And your voice exploded through the line
The voice on the phone was intense and explosive.
Well there you are. I´ve been trying to get ahold of you.
The person on the phone had been trying to contact the speaker.
No doubt you´ve done something you´ll never own up to.
Suggesting the person has done something wrong but won't admit it.
You know the truth has a better chance than you do of change.
The truth has a better chance of changing than the person's behavior.
I thought of easy living down there on the Champs-Élysées
Imagining an easy life on the Champs-Élysées.
I waited just for you, but you´re leaving
The speaker waited for someone, but that person is leaving.
Don´t you think I wanted to? I wasn´t teasing
The speaker wanted the person to stay, not teasing about departure.
I´d tear the whole world apart if you asked me to
The speaker would go to great lengths if asked to.
I remember divine intervention looking something like this
Recalling a moment of divine intervention with a mixture of terror and bliss.
There was terror in a room, and then a moment of bliss
Describing a room with fear turning into a moment of happiness.
And a confusion about what to do suddenly became crystal clear
A moment of confusion clarified, leading to a new vision.
I grew eyes in the back of my head, and a new kind of vision appeared
The speaker gained a new perspective and insight.
I waited just for you, but you´re leaving
The speaker waited for someone who is leaving.
Don´t you think I wanted to? I wasn´t teasing
Expressing the desire for the person to stay, not teasing.
Everything´s on loan, and overdue
Everything is temporary, and there are unresolved matters.
Can´t leave good enough alone, but I´ll try again if you ask me to
Willing to try again if asked to, despite difficulties.
I look down on my knees
The speaker reflects on bad decisions while on their knees.
A string of bad decisions, well, joke's on me
The speaker realizes the consequences of their choices.
Your words repeat over and over in my mind
The person's words repeat in the speaker's mind.
The same thing happens every time
A recurring pattern of negative experiences.
Only now, we´re all being dragged behind
A collective experience of being dragged down.
I waited just for you, but you´re leaving
The speaker waited for someone who is leaving.
Don´t you think I wanted to? I wasn´t teasing
Expressing the desire for the person to stay, not teasing.
Everything´s on loan, and overdue
Everything is temporary, and there are unresolved matters.
Can´t leave good enough alone, so I´ll stay gone this time if you ask me to
Willing to stay away this time if asked to.
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