Niki N. Phaser

Ok, I need to make this as clear as possible: what you are about to read is a joke, it’s having fun with lyrics interpretation. I’ve listened for many times to When in Rome’s The Promise and at one point, the lyrics started to sound like some remorseful wifebeater’s plea/threat thing. I mean, the song starts with the following verse: “If you need a friend, don’t look to a stranger, You know in the end, I’ll always be there. And when you’re in doubt, and when you’re in danger, Take a look all around, and I’ll be there”. Now… this could be easily read as a violent husband’s calm and ironic threat to his wife. “Don’t look to a stranger” meaning don’t ask for help, it will be futile because “in the end, I’ll always be there”. Then, when she is in doubt and in danger, he says “take a look all around, and I’ll be there”, so maybe that’s exactly the reason why she is in danger. The second verse is filled with other ambiguous stuff like “Sometimes, if I shout, It’s not what’s intended”. This kinda resembles “I’m sorry, but you make me do this. You know I love you” sort of line we hear in movies about violent spouses. The chorus sounds like another shape of the same line: “I’m sorry, but I’m just thinking of the right words to say. I know they don’t sound the way I planned them to be”, which means he expresses himself in all the wrong ways. And there is no escape for the poor woman, since he promises: “if I had to walk the world, I’d make you fall for me, I promise, I promise you I will …”, which means she could run and hide, but it’ll do her no good, because he’ll walk the world to find her. This is what his promise is all about. Crazy stuff. Remember that movie, Sleeping with the Enemy ? Just imagine a montage of Julia Roberts-Patrick Bergin scenes with this song as soundtrack…

I’ll finish up by reminding all of you Napoleon Dynamite fans out there that this is joke, I like this song just as much as you do – after all, it’s by listening to it thousands of times that I came up with these hidden meanings (and I admit, afterwards, it was pretty difficult to listen to it as the love song it was meant to be). So, if you can’t take a joke, go watch an Eddie Murphy movie…

LISTEN TO THE SONG AND READ THE LYRICS HERE