Released: 1972
Lobo’s ‘I’d Love You to Want Me’ is a classic country love ballad. It’s a tale of unrequited love, a man longing for the woman he loves to reciprocate his feelings. It’s about the struggle of wanting someone so badly, but they’re too guarded to let their feelings show.
The opening lines, ‘When I saw you standing there, I ’bout fell out my chair’, paint a picture of instant attraction. The phrase ‘fell out my chair’ is a country way of saying he was completely taken aback by her beauty.
‘And when you moved your mouth to speak, I felt the blood go to my feet’, this line shows how smitten he is. His heart races when she speaks, a classic sign of infatuation.
‘Now, it took time for me to know, What you tried so not to show’, here, Lobo hints at the woman’s reluctance to show her feelings. She’s been hiding her emotions, a common theme in country music, where folks often bottle up their feelings.
‘Something in my soul just cries, I see the want in your blue eyes’, despite her reluctance, he sees a longing in her eyes. The ‘blue eyes’ is a common country music trope, symbolizing innocence and vulnerability.
The chorus, ‘Baby, I’d love you to want me, The way that I want you’, is a desperate plea for reciprocation. He’s not just asking for her love, he’s yearning for her to want him as intensely as he wants her.
‘You told yourself years ago, You’d never let your feeling show, The obligation that you made, For the title that they gave’, these lines hint at a past hurt. She’s been hurt before and made a promise to herself not to let her feelings show again. The ‘title’ they gave could refer to a past relationship label that ended in heartbreak.
The song ends with a repeated chorus, emphasizing his deep longing. He’s still hopeful that she’ll let her guard down and they can share the love he so desperately wants. Lobo’s ‘I’d Love You to Want Me’ is a heartfelt country ballad that resonates with anyone who’s ever loved someone who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, love them back.
