BE MY SOMEBODY TONIGHT – Norah Jones
Listen to the song and see if you can figure out the meanings of the phrasal verbs.
Click on the link to the video here.
“Be my somebody today”
I’m too foggy today
To know what you’re saying
Your lips are moving so fast
And I just keep praying
For them to slow down
So I can make some sense
Of the words that are pouring out
Of your crooked spout
Last night was a record to be broken
It broke all over the kitchen floor
Oh no, don’t you go
I’m coming back with a rag
To wipe away the haze from the days
We’ve forgotten all about
So be my somebody tonight
Be the one who will hold me tight
Honey, please, please
‘Cause I’ve been so all alone
And no one will pick up the phone
So honey, please stay
I held your head up, do you remember?
When you wanted to make a blanket out of me
Oh, I.. I can’t lie; but I’ve been keeping score
And it’s your turn to wring me out
And lay me down to dry
So be my somebody tonight
Be the one who’ll hold me tight
Honey, please, please
‘Cause I’ve been so all alone
And no one will pick up the phone
So honey, please stay
Honey, please stay
Honey, please stay
Phrasal Verbs Explained
(in the context of this song and based on my personal interpretation)
- Slow down: move more slowly (referring to his lips because he is speaking too quickly for her to digest it all).
- Pour out: tell someone what you are feeling, here probably in a very emotional way.
- Wipe away: remove (in this case, the haze, perhaps referring to their arguments in the past or mistakes they’ve made)
- Pick up: answer the phone
- Hold (your head) up: when referred to yourself, it means, to be confident and proud of yourself. Here I guess she means she supported him.
- Wring out: squeeze the water out of something like a rag; used metaphorically here as in, squeeze all the bad out of me, I suppose.
- Lay down: leave on a surface; put down.