I DIDN'T MEAN TO LOVE YOU         
(words and music by Rick Springfield)          



Hey look what you've done 
Ain't you even gonna help me make it 
Cause now your love's the only one 
I tried so hard to break it
Now what the hell am I gonna do
Now that I'm loving you 
1200 miles is a long long way 
And my loves gonna grow 
Every inch of the way

But I didn't mean to love you 
I only meant to see 
How far you would go 
And I didn't mean to love you 
I tried to leave ya 
But my heart said no, no 

Hey what can I say 
You know I didn't mean to fall for you
Show me, show me, show me 
What can I do 
I don't even know 
If your love is true

But I know this 
No matter how much I want to try 
I'll never stop loving you 
I need you 
Though you're just 17 
And my loves gonna grow every night every day

But I didn't mean to love you 
I only meant to see 
How far you'd go 
And I didn't mean to love you 
I tried to leave ya 
But my heart said no, no, no, no

I didn't mean to love you
I only meant to see
How far you'd go....

(total playing time: 3:42)

Rick says that this song was written about a fan. - RLS Birthday Luncheon, Las Vegas, NV 8/24/02

Song Facts: This can be found on Beginnings.

According to US

Here we go, Rick is singing the blues. I am never one for a blues song, but I gotta love this one. Every time it starts up with the wailin' guitar at the beginning, I get this image of a smoky barroom, dimly lit, with people just hanging around at the tables listening to some good ol' funky music. Of course, never being in a blues bar ever myself this image is conjured up from movies, so I have no idea if that is what it's like. But in between every stanza, where Rick seems to emphasis his voice even more, I'm yelling out "that's right!" while driving in my car. It just seems appropriate :-)

OK, with that outta the way - I must admit that the one thing that SCREAMS out loud and clear throughout this song to me is that - this song is about SEX. I think this must be the first one Rick wrote that is loaded with sexual innuendoes. Now, I know you guys know what I'm talking about, we've had this discussion before with Inside Silvia, and boy I cannot wait until we do Love Receiver...but that's another review. The end of the first chorus makes me grin every time, "and my love's gonna grow every inch of the way". Yowsa.

The second chorus, Rick is totally admitting his twentysomething frame of mind by singing, "I only meant to see how far you would go". Uh huh. Problem with our guy is he is so sensitive, he went and confused sex with love. "And I didn't mean to love you, I tried to leave ya but my heart said no, no" Or maybe it was another organ :-P

By the next chorus, you should hear me a hootin' & a hollerin' when he finishes up with "though you're just 17, and my love's gonna grow every night every day". I think it's the way he says it, the way he emphasizes the every-s has me in hysterics.

Now, when I saw Renata's comments when she posted these lyrics about Rick saying this song was about a fan....well, all I could say was -
Damn. -  Michelle P.


It seems to me, he found a girl he was sexually attracted to, just wanted to see if he could get her in bed, but then fell in love with her.  Even though when I hear the line "my love's going to grow every inch of the way", I kind of smile because it reminds me of the Led Zeppelin line "I'm going to give you every inch of my love", which is totally sexual, but I'm not convinced that Rick was going there.   I see it as another exaggeration to emphasize the strength of his feelings, just as in 1000 years.  I'd still love to know where the 1200 mile difference in locations was.  Where was he and where was she? - rlh