A Man Is In Love - The Waterboys

This is my ultimate LOVE SONG.

It's been like that ever since I can remember myself and hearing this song for the first time almost 20 years ago.

Maybe it's the words, maybe the Irish music I am SO connected to...

Don't know what it is...

I only know this:

It's exactly how I feel when I fall in Love.

The child inside me goes weak at the knees every time I get to hear it...

It's so playful, so innocent, to simple, so pure, so true.

There is gentle hesitation in every word and quiet adoration.

Up until the last 3 words.. the child inside me pauses with the singer, hesitating one final time, to reveal the big secret. And after a short break (a time desperately needed to gather all of the world's courage), then, ONLY then... mastering all the new-found confidence and with the smile of a 9 year old, BOOM!

The secret's out! "....and he's me".

Yes it is me. Yes I am in Love. More than ever before, even though I can't have you, because I don't even know where you are now, because I can't be 9 again. I don't care. I'm just happy I've met you in this lifetime. Happy and blessed.

All that is in those 3 words.

And those 3 words, the awful truth, the terrible secret... A man is in Love... and he's me...

The pause in music right after that... is the pause of my heart. Now you know. My heart has stopped. Because now you know. Now I've told you finally. Now you know. All the waiting, all the hesitation, all the precaution is finally over. Now you know. And my heart has stopped beating... but NOW YOU KNOW! NOW MY HEART WILL JUMP-START ITSELF AGAIN, QUICKER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER BEFORE.

It's the same jump start to the song's musical climax. The truth is out. And the chains are lifted, and the heart is free to fly. And I am flying with you. I am 9 again, jumping around, goofing around, playing around, heavily, unconditionally, irrevocably yours, forever and ever and ever.

And you don't even know it :-)

Because I never told you. Because I didn't even know it myself.

You were my first.

And I only found out years later, by analysing my emotions and my memories.

You were my first Love.

And I fly away with the music after those 3 words. The poetry coming near the end matters not. I've said ALL I wanted to say.

And that's how I feel every time I hear this song.

I am 9 again.

For you, my One First True Love.

Wherever you might be, whatever you do, whoever you've become.

This is for You.



A man is in love, how do I know?
He came and walked with me, and he told me so
In a song he sang, and then I knew
A man is in love with you

A man is in love, how did I hear?
I heard him talk too much whenever you're near
He whispered your name when his eyes were closed
A man is in love and he knows

A man is in love, how did I guess?
I figured it out while he was watching you dress
He'd give you his all, if you'd but agree
A man is in love...

...and he's me.