You are my fire
The one desire
Believe when I say
I want it that way

This opening is more interesting than it looks. It’s one thing to say someone is your fire/desire. But the singer goes a step further – he says he wants her to be his fire/desire. That’s sort of a weird thing to say. “Not only am I in love with you, I want to be in love with you.”

But this actually becomes kind of a poignant sentiment when you realize the song is about a relationship on the verge of collapse. The girl is either dumping the guy, or seriously considering it. Anyone who’s ever been through a bad breakup knows that those feelings of dependency that seemed so cute when you were together can make you miserable when the other person is out of your life. But this guy is doubling down on his love. He’s saying, “No matter what happens to us, I don’t regret my love for you.” Or as Fanny Brice put it, “I’d rather be blue over you than be happy with somebody else.”

Dear Bryan,

First of all, l’m a big fan. The fact that you spent your evenings down at the drive-in in the summer of ‘69, when you were only nine years old, is truly awesome.

But I have an issue with “Heaven,” your first big hit. The lyrics of the chorus have always bothered me:

Baby you’re all that I want
When you’re lying here in my arms
I’m finding it hard to believe
We’re in heaven

To me, that always sounded like:

Baby, you’re all that I want when you’re lying here in my arms. I’m finding it hard to believe we’re in heaven.

Which makes it sound like you’re really underwhelmed and being sarcastic about it. “This is heaven? If you say so.”

That’s not you, Bryan.

Of course, it’s actually supposed to be read this way:

Baby you’re all that I want. When you’re lying here in my arms, I’m finding it hard to believe. We’re in heaven!

But to me, it just never scanned right.

So here’s my suggestion – just change the lyric “I’m finding it” to “It isn’t.” So the revised quatrain reads:

Baby you’re all that I want
When you’re lying here in my arms
It isn’t hard to believe
We’re in heaven

I think that would clear up a lot of confusion. Thanks, Bryan.

Sincerely,
Matthew Belinkie