Call Me What You Like (or CMWYL, in the abbreviated form) is a song released by the British rock band Lovejoy in February 2023. The track rapidly became one of the trending songs at the beginning of 2023, marking a particularly favorable moment for the band: formed in 2020, Lovejoy were an idea of the Internet personally Wilbur Soot, and the new songs are helping the band get fans even in the US. People were obviously curious to know more about the song’s meaning: let’s discover it in this article. You’ll also find the complete lyrics at the end.
You can watch the official video for Call Me What You Like below.
Call Me What You Like: the lyrics & their meaning
Call Me What You Like is a song about a complicated love relationship. In the lyrics, the protagonist explains how he wants this girl, although she’s not committed to him. He knows she occasionally sees other men, he knows this story won’t evolve positively and probably won’t last, and he knows he cannot keep hoping forever. But he still hopes she will call him tonight, under any label or role she wants from him: her the origin of the title “call me what you like,” meaning: “whatever I am for you, boyfriend or occasional lover, call me and be with me tonight.”
One line in particular, placed in the song’s first verse, expresses all the doubts the protagonist has:
Darling, what am I to do?
All the insecurities he has towards this relationship come up with the doubts about the value he has for her: in the chorus, he explicitly says that she doesn’t need him, probably she doesn’t want him either, but he’s anyway there, hoping for another beautiful moment with her.
I’m not sure if you want it
Not sure if you need me, too
And you can taste thе beer
On every guy that talks to you
But you can’t stay awake forever
No, you can’t stay awake forever
As the only dimension available to be someone meaningful for her, the singer relies on the moment when she’s asleep: hopefully, at least at that moment, they can sleep in the same bed and be a real couple, at least in his eyes.
However, the protagonist is perfectly aware that this is a hopeless road: he knows he will hit hard against the wall of her refusal, and the heartbreak will be painful. It’s not always easy to gain full awareness when we need to let love go. There is always a period of time when a part of us knows it and tries to process it slowly, getting prepared for the decision to come. But until the preparation phase is not over, we feel conflicted, led by our feelings, and pushed towards the person we still love, although we know it’s not healthy for us. This is the conflict expressed in the second part of the lyrics inside Call Me What You Like:
This just in: I am a total f**ing dumba–
And I’ve come to the uncomfortable conclusion I’ll be spending the rest of my life in a state of constant paranoia
Just let me follow you
And I’ll proceed to bang my head on every doorway and doorframe you see suitable for us to go through And I’ve found that the road to happiness is paved
With rows and rows of very tempting parking spaces
I’m not paranoid, I’m a realist
I know you’re gonna kill me!
The road to happiness is everything but straightforward, and at every mile, you have the temptation to stop. This relationship looks like a moment spent parked aside, knowing he’s supposed to get back driving toward happiness. Instead, he’s just following her. “Banging his head on every doorway and doorframe,” referring to his extraordinary height: he’s 6’6 – almost 2 meters tall, so he will end up hitting his head if he’s not careful. And his woman doesn’t look like she’s paying great attention to it (“every doorway and doorframe you see suitable for us to go through“)
This is, after all, the real meaning of the lyrics inside Call Me What You Like: I can’t help, I want you, although you don’t seem to be committed to me; this will end up killing me, but I’m just unable to do anything differently. At this moment, I’m not pursuing my happiness or protecting myself, I only want you. Irresponsibly. A song that perfectly expresses the conflicted feelings of being in love with someone who doesn’t return our feelings.
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The complete lyrics
I never was a fan of the internet
She never felt that safe in her own head
We both hate the news
There for the grace of God goes you
Smiling when I ask if she’s bored yet
Wonder if we took it too far
Both taste confused
Darling, what am I to do?
I like to think that I’m
The only guy she’ll see tonight
You can call me what you like
As long as you call me
And you can kiss the skin from my lips til it makes you feel good
I’m not sure if you want it, not sure if you need me too
And you can taste the beer on every guy who talks to you
But you can’t stay awake forever
No you can’t stay awake forever
So I find myself in your mum’s bedroom
Fighting with the pink roller blinds
It’s on pay-per-view
Place your bets on who’s lost their mind
Take a pirouette under duvet set
Sigh with perfect pitch and with time
I’m not made for you
But what else is new?
Oh, lord she tells me that it’s nothing
I really hope it’s nothing
And you can kiss the skin from my lips til it makes you feel good
I’m not sure if you want it, not sure if you need me too
And you can taste the beer on every guy who talks to you
But you can’t stay awake forever
No you can’t stay awake forever
This just in: I am a total f**ing dumba–
And I’ve come to the uncomfortable conclusion I’ll be spending the rest of my life in a state of constant paranoia
Just let me follow you
And I’ll proceed to bang my head on every doorway and doorframe you see suitable for us to go through And I’ve found that the road to happiness is paved
With rows and rows of very tempting parking spaces
I’m not paranoid, I’m a realist
I know you’re gonna kill me!
And you can kiss the skin from my lips til it makes you feel good
I’m not sure if you want it, not sure if you need me too
And you can taste the beer on every guy who talks to you
But you can’t stay awake forever No you can’t stay awake forever
