I feel like I'm standing all alone
I loved this opening line. Subtly and yet so powerful in its significance. We all learn to stand alone, but in truth we find strength to do so by the love of those who nurtured us and gave us company to do so in the first place. I loved how the line seems sad but upon closer inspection we find strength, conviction and courage. Wonderfully done.
I don't care if it's right or wrong
I just want you to hold my hand
To me this is where I belong
Then that illumination of the root of her strength, love. I love, JUST LOVED how you juxtapose two notions. In the second line you beg movement from him, that he should come and hold her hand and then contrast, almost contradict that by the third line, for that place is someplace that she wishes to be, seeks to find herself there. Finely and masterfully done!
Some days it's up with you,
And some days it's down
Wonderfully composed, I have always loved you ordering of words, nothing is arbitrary, here you place both with you and days between up and down, highlighting in the first instance that it is he that influences the good/bad that happiness/sad, in her life. In the second by grouping both him and days together you remind us that her days, her life are nothing but him. Beautifully done. Then finally that end upon down, a sad note, but that in truth, she doesn't mind, for it is a part of the whole, him; days with him. Excellently done.
When the stars twinkle, you're smiling
When the sun shines, it's a frown
Then you contrast that last note of down, with up, with happiness, and then again ending with down, a frown. Beautifully done. I loved the topsy turvy nature of him, the dark of the night brings out his good whilst the light of the day his sadness. Just like that darkness of a night brings out the luminescence of the stars all the more, so with him, he needs that darkness of his seriousness for you to appreciate those glimpses of happiness, for they shine out all the more brighter for it.
I can't tell if you'll be angry
Or just gently smile at me
I can't tell if you'll push me away
Or just embrace me softly
Ah! Wonderful, so before it was her days that he influenced, and here you add another layer, whereby she is unable to tell even if it will be day or night, dusk or dawn. Finely done. It reminds me of these lyrics of Gulzar, teri baalee hil gaee hai kabhee shab chamak uthee hai kabhee shaam khil gaya
I feel like I'm standing all alone
I don't care if it's right or wrong
I just want you to hold my hand
Then this reprise adding another layer, reminding us that it is his love that gives her strength to want to be so close to him BUT it is also her weakness for some part of her feels uncertain of his unknown qualities that play with her days, nights, life.
To me this is where I belong
What they said never mattered
What they did, I didn't care
As long as you were on my side
The rest of the world didn't compare
That heeding, that warning from people before she set out upon this path. They did not understand that this is where I belong for they only saw the outward of an inward only she felt, so that the whole world could be against her, tell her she was wrong BUT none could comprehend that strength of heart she gained by remaining steadfast upon her place.
Sometimes we teased and laughed
Sometimes we clashed and fought
Even when you walked away from me
It was you who my heart sought
Again, beautiful composition. Those up and down, but even in that down we can find an up, for when he turned away, her heart moved, sprang to life, seeking his face once again. Wonderfully done.
I feel like I'm standing all alone
I don't care if it's right or wrong
I just want you to hold my hand
To me this is where I belong
Then these repeated lines elucidating that doubt in the title belonged not to her but us, for she had always known that she belonged here, and these words become a proffered answer to our doubts of why would she stand there? We who could never understand until we too had felt that love.
Wafah, as always, finely composed and very beautiful. With much love, Sabah