Broadway has "I Want" and "I Am" songs, and the "I Am" gold-standard specimen comes from "She Loves Me."
Will he like me when we meet?
Will the shy and quiet girl he's going to see
Be the girl that he's imagined me to be?
Will he like me?
Here, the speaker is saying one thing: "I am anxious." But she doesn't actually say that. The insistent question marks do all of the work.
Will he like me? Who can say?
How I wish that we could meet another day.
It's insanity for me to carry on this way...
I'll try not to.
Will he like me?
He's just got to.
There is a "ping-pong ball" effect: We move from questions, to fantasy, to cool common sense, back to all-engulfing doubt. It doesn't really matter what the speaker is saying. What matters is that she can't stay with one thought for more than a second.
Despite the speaker's momentary burst of confidence--"he will like me, he's just got to"--the song ends in a brilliant way. A little voice makes itself heard. "Will he like me? Will he like me....?"
A perfect portrait--funny and seemingly effortless. This is great writing.
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