Don't Try to Make Me Real
Unveiling the Illusion: Pete Townshend's Reflection on Unattainable Realities
Lyrics
Make me of clay, make me of steel
Expressing resistance to being molded easily, comparing oneself to materials like clay and steel.
But whatever you do don't try and make me real
Emphasizing a refusal to be turned into a conventional or 'real' person by others.
Make me your dream, a secretive deal
Suggesting a willingness to be part of someone's dream but not to conform to societal expectations of reality.
But don't ever scheme to try and make me real
Warning against any scheming or manipulation to make the person conform to societal norms.
Stop trying to make me real
Reiterating the refusal to be made 'real,' emphasizing the lack of a lover's heart.
I haven't got the kind of heart a lover can steal
Highlighting the absence of qualities that make one susceptible to being a lover's target.
Stop crying, I just can't feel
Expressing an emotional detachment, an inability to feel sympathy for those trying to change the person.
Any sympathy for someone trying to make me real
Continuing the lack of empathy for attempts to make the person conform to societal expectations.
Make me of shit in a two-teenier deal
Using provocative imagery to reject being made from undesirable elements and situations.
Make me of pornography in a pedophile wheel
Strongly rejecting the association with morally objectionable themes.
Whatever I do, whatever I feel
Stating that despite actions and feelings, societal standards won't define the person as 'real.'
By your double standard I will never be real
Addressing the imposition of double standards, implying the impossibility of meeting societal expectations.
Stop trying to make me real
Reiterating the resistance to being molded into a conventional person, emphasizing the lack of a lover's heart.
I haven't got the kind of heart a lover can steal
Restating the absence of qualities that make one susceptible to being a lover's target.
Stop crying, I just can't feel
Reiterating emotional detachment, expressing an inability to feel sympathy for those trying to change the person.
Any sympathy for someone trying to make me
Continuing the lack of empathy for attempts to make the person conform to societal expectations.
Why can't you settle for a fantasy?
Questioning the insistence on a real person and suggesting acceptance of a fantasy instead.
You're so convinced that I'm the man to see
Commenting on someone's strong belief in the person's idealized image.
I can't live up to
Expressing an inability to live up to the expectations set by others.
What you give up to
Noting the sacrifices made by others and the difficulty in matching their ideal.
I fail to see the perfect man in me
Denying the existence of a perfect man within oneself.
Make me from your magazine a listed ideal
Sarcastically suggesting being made into an ideal from a magazine, highlighting the superficiality of societal expectations.
Dress me in the doll's house your knickers conceal
Using provocative imagery to reject being dressed up to conform to societal norms.
Make me your brother-lover beau-ideal
Sarcastically suggesting an idealized relationship but asserting that such a lover can't be real.
But you will soon discover lover can't be real
Asserting that attempts to conform to societal expectations won't result in genuine love.
Stop trying to make me real
Reiterating the resistance to being molded into a conventional person, emphasizing the lack of a lover's heart.
I haven't got the kind of heart a lover can steal
Restating the absence of qualities that make one susceptible to being a lover's target.
Stop crying, I just can't feel
Reiterating emotional detachment, expressing an inability to feel sympathy for those trying to change the person.
Any sympathy for someone trying to make me real
Continuing the lack of empathy for attempts to make the person conform to societal expectations.
(repeat 3 times)
Emphasizing the repeated rejection of attempts to make the person 'real.'
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