The first track off of Eddie From Ohio's 1998 release Looking out the Fishbowl, this song shows off Julie Murphy-Wells' great ability to emote and to take on a character with her singing voice. In this one, she's your typical college graduate who loves Whitman and Sartre and Borges, infatuated with the allure of a foreign country. You can decide for herself if she's truly in love, but know this: if she were from any civilized nation, she'd be able to find one language in common with him, N'est-ce pas?
The hook of the song owes a quick debt to the Indigo Girls' Closer to Fine, but the tight percussion work on the djembe is all Eddie's.
lyrics:
You've got exactly
sixty seconds to
tell me what you meant that,
one short
minute to apologize.
You've got exactly sixty seconds to tell me what you meant that,
and I hear the
murder rate is on the rise.
I'm in love,
and I do not speak the language.
I'm in love,
but I don't understand!
I'm in love,
and I do not speak the language,
but I try to speak the language
of this foreign land.
Here I am! Stupid American! Here I am.
Here I am! Stupid American! Here I am.
You've got exactly sixty seconds to think about that stupid question:
a baguette doesn't come with a bag.
You've got exactly sixty seconds to take back that stupid question--
it's called a "baguette", don't you get it?
I'm in love,
and I do not speak the language.
I'm in love,
but I don't understand!
I'm in love,
and I do not speak the language,
but I try to speak the language
and it comes out sounding like:
Here I am! Stupid American! Here I am.
Here I am! Stupid American! Here I am.
His heart is Italy,
his kiss is Paris,
his body is Brazilian,
my heart is, my heart is...
Ohhhhhhhhhhh...
-klahoma.
You've got exactly sixty seconds to kiss me like a European,
one short minute to show me how.
You've got exactly sixty seconds to love me like a spy.
I've seen those foreign films! Do it, do it!
Now I'm in love
with a man who says "Te amo,"
I'm in love!
He calls me "ma petite chou chou,"
I'm in love!
and I try to speak the language,
but I can't understand a single word he's saying.
Here I am! Stupid American! Here I am.
Here I am! Stupid American! Here I am.
Here I am,
Here I am...