I’d love you to love me/
I’m beggin’ you to beg me.

The live version of “I Want You To Want Me” is really great. It captures the energy of a Cheap Trick performance and really shows you how nuts the audience was for this song at its height. The girls are screaming like it is The Beatles in Shea Stadium. It is amazing.

There is something to be said for a band that can play well live. You know that there is no hiding behind studio gimmicks, studio musicians or a hundred takes. It is just rock n roll in its purest form, and in this performance of I Want You to Want Me you can hear the crowd respond.

The lyrics are simplistic, but it is funny how many songs really boil down to this sentiment. Cheap Trick removes all the pretenses and says exactly what they want. And the girls in the audience love it.

I Want You To Want Me Lyrics

I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I’d love you to love me
I’m begging you to beg me
I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I’d love you to love me

I’ll shine up the old brown shoes
Put on a brand new shirt
I’ll get home early from work
If you say that you love me

Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?
Feeling all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dying
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?

I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I’d love you to love me
I’m begging you to beg me

I’ll shine up the old brown shoes
Put on a brand-new shirt
I’ll get home early from work
If you say that you love me

Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?
Feeling all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dying
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?

Feeling all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dying
Oh, didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?

I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I’d love you to love me
I’m begging you to beg me
I want you to want me
I want you to want me
I want you to want me
I want you to want me

written by Rick Nielsen

There’s wind that blows in from the north/
And it says that loving takes this course/
Come here.

Kath Bloom’s “Come Here” is such a delicate song. A lot of that has to do with Bloom’s delivery. She sings so softly yet somehow assuredly, knowing that she and her love are meant to be together. She speaks of feeling the wind coming in from the North making them cold and perhaps needing to find warmth in each other. It doesn’t sound like a cheesy line. Somehow, she sounds like a sage.

Bloom subtly hints at their relationship without giving away too many details. They have probably been off-and-on for awhile and he is “timid” yet prideful around her. She comforts him by saying this time it is going to be fine. It doesn’t sound like a generic love song, but one from her specific experience. That makes the song all the more interesting.

One unique aspect of this song is the use of harmonica. Folk music has used the harmonica long before Dylan. However, often times it is used as a lead guitarist would use their guitar: during breaks from singing they would play the harmonica.

In “Come Here” the harmonica is an accompanying instrument more prominent than any other instrument, even the guitar. It solos along in the background while the lead vocals are occurring. It creates a unique sound.

Come Here Lyrics

There’s wind that blows in from the north
And it says that loving takes this course
Come here
Come here

No I’m not impossible to touch
I have never wanted you so much
Come here
Come here

Have I never laid down by your side
Baby, let’s forget about this pride
Come here
Come here

Well I’m in no hurry
You don’t have to run away this time
I know you’re timid
But it’s gonna be all right this time

There’s wind that blows in from the north
And it says that loving takes this course
Come here
Come here
Please, hey, hey
Hey, hey

written by: Katherine Bloom-bronski

When I was young/
I never needed anyone…
Those days are gone.

Eric Carmen expresses a couple of interesting ideas in “All By Myself”. One, is that when you are young, you have a lot more friends and you sort of take them for granted. You think you’ll always be able to make friends. But it becomes harder as we get older. Also, when we are younger, many go through a rebellious faze, where they feel they don’t need anyone: that we can do everything by themselves.

Perhaps at that time in their life it is a way of seeking independence from their parents, but here, years later, Carmen finds himself with no one to answer his calls. He is all by himself and he doesn’t want to be that way anymore.

Like many great songs on this list, “All By Myself” is great because the lyrics match the emotional tone of the song. We feel Carmen’s loneliness in his voice: and we feel for him. We also think about the times in our lives that we have been alone and the friendships we have let lapse. Were all of those choices we made the right decision?

I like that the piano carries the first verse and solo until we start adding the full band and orchestration. In the last verse we add a great electric guitar solo followed by the piano solo again. It is a great sequence.

Part of the song is based on a motif of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto in C minor. Here is another song on this list that takes a riff from a classical song and turns it into a pop song.

All By Myself Lyrics

When I was young,
I never needed anyone.
And makin’ love was just for fun.
Those days are gone.

Livin’ alone-
I think of all the friends I’ve known,
But when I dial the telephone,
Nobody’s home.

All by myself,
Don’t want to be
All by myself.
Anymore.

All by myself.
Don’t want to live
All by myself.
Anymore.

Hard to be sure-
Some times I feel so insecure.
And love so distant and obscure,
Remains the cure.

All by myself.
Don’t want to be,
All by myself
Anymore.

All by myself.
Don’t want to live
All by myself.
Anymore.

When I was young,
I never needed anyone.
And makin’ love was just for fun.
Those days are gone.

All by myself,
Don’t want to be, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to live, all by myself anymore.

All by myself,
Don’t want to be, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to live, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to be, all by myself anymore.

Songwriters: Eric Carmen / Sergei Rachmaninoff