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TREAT ME GENTLY IN THE MORNING
(words and music by Rick Springfield)
She remembers the night they first were alone
When he took her home and he said,
"I need you, won't you stay?"
And all through that night his eyes had a light
That burned very bright and she hoped
His words weren't well read lines
A little ill at ease she whispered "Baby, please"
Treat me gently in the morning
Take my heart but stay with me
Treat me gently in the morning, please
Her mamma said, "Silly girl, you should marry him or leave
He'll only make you grieve when he decides it's over
Wake up child"
But the years fell away, they grew closer they found
Though they had their ups and downs just like lovers do
Still she'd say, "It's okay to fight, when were alone late at night
I'll always say
Treat me gently in the morning
Take my heart but stay with me
Treat me gently in the morning, please
It all went so fast one day he went away
He said St. Tropez but he died that winter in a plane
The last thing he sent was a postcard from Rome
It read, "I'm coming home, lady, I love you"
And under his name was a P.S. that read
Very simply it said
Treat me gently in the morning
I can't live another night
Treat me gently in the morning
I'll be on that plane tonight
Treat me gently in the morning
I can't live another night
Treat me gently in the morning
I'll be on that plane tonight
Treat me gently in the morning
I can't live another night
Treat me gently in the morning...
(total playing time: 4:31 )
Song Facts: This can be found on
Wait for Night.
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According to US
Ahh...another romance novel song. Sometimes I miss that Rick doesn't write these much anymore. :-) This was....ok, I'll admit it...is my favorite one on this album. Alright, so it's hokey and I see that now, but I'm such a sucker for a love-themed tragedy that the teen me loved it to death. Literally. I killed a couple of cassettes with this song, both sides of the tape were so warped that the start of this and at the end of "Goldfever" on the other side it sounded like I was taking a 45 rpm record and playing it at 33 1/3 speed.
But I loved it still. They're lovers. They understand each other. All she wanted was for him to be nice to her the next day. Heck, I'm certainly not a morning person - I can understand that. She let him be what he wanted to be, and that was enough for her. Too bad for her that when he came to realization that he did love her, he died. Sob. Breaks my heart to this day. That's a typical man for ya though...
I absolutely love the gaudiness of the title too. Makes me wish I had a racehorse, I'd love to name it that. "Treat me Gently in the Morning takes the lead in the last lap...." I'm not sure why Rick included the whole line, I mean "Treat me Gently" would've been fine...but hey, that was his decision. -
Michelle P.
This is my envy song. She envies what could have been and the life he leads away from her when he goes home to his life without her, and he (afraid of commitment?) is maybe envying bachelorhood, another woman, island paradises?...whatever keeps him from staying with her.
We have another O. Henry ending from Rick on this one, eh? And the thing is, I can’t beat him up about it because I wrote so many poems along these lines when I was younger. This is so typical of young writers, it makes me think this was written during the Beginnings sessions…it has the same lyrical feel as some of those songs.
This song is different for me in that I really like the music, but I am not as crazy about the words. I think the melody is beautiful, but I just cringe at lyrics such as “P.S. that read Very simply it said.” Hate me, beat me, mash me over the head, but that is just trite and not very good writing for a man with Rick’s talents. There is a line in a song I like that goes “If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor.” That is what this song reminds me of. If I had not heard so much better from Rick, I’d probably like this song a lot more. But feeling it is somehow beneath his normal standards makes me not able to give it too much credit.
However, I do believe there is something good in anything Rick touches, so highlights on this on for me are, the lovely music and the line “but the years fell away.” That IS good writing – not slipped, not drifted, but FELL – it went by dramatically fast, rather than a slow fade – they (the years) just dropped off. I like how the use of one word changed the entire feel of it for me.
Also, having been so critical, I will admit, when I first heard the song as a young girl, I loved it, got goose bumps, and thought it was amazing and beautiful. Perhaps I am now just too old and jaded to appreciate it for the great romantic ballad I once thought it to be.
- Anna C.
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I just am not emotionally involved in this song. I know it's supposed to be a tragedy, but when the death occurs at the end of the song, I kind of don't care. It's like he's submitting this song for a song writing 101 course. It has structure, it has a story, it has a nice rhyme, but it just doesn't have any feeling. And once again he writes it from the woman's point of view. I just wonder if up to this point, Rick hadn't gotten comfortable enough to really get personal with his songs, to really expose himself to where he could draw the listener in. Another reoccurring theme is the "fighting". He's always said that fighting it out is good for a relationship, and apparently he's thought that for a long time. I too, must give him props for not only including St.
Tropez, but also rhyming it. That truly is a gift, and one he's had for a long time. -
rlh
This review has been haunting me for the last few days. I listened to this song for the first time last weekend, and I just can't get
into it. It just doesn't do anything for me, which I find odd because being a Lifetime junkie I usually go for the sad ending. LOL
By reading the lyrics of this song it just shows how much he has grown over the last thirty years as a songwriter. I wish I did hear this record back when it came out so I could judge this song on it's own merit and not judge it against his writing skills of today.
- Charlotte P.
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