This one is about the feeling of insecurity in a relationship. When things get rocky and not how you planned, It’s easy to feel like your life is falling apart. You start to feel hopeless. But eventually you get through it and learn to better communicate and compromise. There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. This song has not one, but two nods to the Phil Collins song, “In The Air Tonight.” There’s the line about drowning in the verse similar to his and I also slipped in the iconic drum fill to close out the song.
Please erase the message on your answering machine
Cause the words are jumbled in my head and isn’t what I mean
I am starting over and I’m talking in reverse
And you listen back at me as if I said something absurd
Can I have a minute just to say what’s on my mind?
I can sugar-coat it all to keep the criticism kind
Sometimes I get that feeling that I’m talking off your ears
And if you can find the time than I can keep it up for years (I’m saying)
Please don’t leave me now
I’m in the middle of figuring this out
I’m just a little bit scared that you’ll walk out
Because you wanted to be with someone other than me (I’m saying)
Please don’t leave me now
I’m in the middle of figuring this out
I’m just a little bit scared that you’ll walk out
Because you wanted to be with someone other than me, yeah
Closing all the doorways, I am wandering the halls
If this empty house has stories they are hanging on the walls
Can’t tell the end from the beginning and I’m sorting out my thoughts
And I got some work to do and some things to get across
I am treading water and I’m stuck out in the deep end
And the life guard is off duty and I’m struggling for air
If I told you I was drowning, then would you not lend a hand?
Cause I feel I’ve told this story now again and again and again
Please don’t leave me now
I’m in the middle of figuring this out
I’m just a little bit scared that you’ll walk out
Because you wanted to be with someone other than me (I’m saying)
Please don’t leave me now
I’m in the middle of figuring this out
I’m just a little bit scared that you’ll walk out
Because you wanted to be with someone other than me, yeah
Released in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 20, 2021