"Maybe"

I decided to do my analysis on the song "Maybe" by Kelly Clarkson. I sang this song (well part of it...) on the last day before spring break at the Night of Noise, which was an open-mic event held to give a voice to those in the LGBT community, for those who don't know about it. I did it mostly out of wanting to sing, however to respect the meaning behind the event, I decided it would be best to choose a song that had some kind of relevance to the whole point of it. So as a last minute decision, I chose this song, but I did it purely based of emotions that I thought could be applied to this specific situation. I thought it would only be appropriate to really look at the song and think about it, perhaps even figure out why I felt it was a good song to sing that night. The lyrics:

I'm strong
But I break
I'm stubborn
And I make plenty of mistakes
Yeah I'm hard
And life with me is never easy
To figure out, to love
I'm jaded but oh so lovely
All you have to do is hold me
And you'll know and you'll see just how sweet it can be
If you'll trust me, love me, let me
Maybe, maybe

Someday
When we're at the same place
When we're on the same road
When it's OK to hold my hand
Without feeling lost
Without all the excuses
When it's just because you love me, you let me, you need me
Then maybe, maybe
All you have to do is hold me
And you'll know and you'll see just how sweet it can be
If you'll trust me, love me, let me
Maybe, maybe

I'm confusing as hell
I'm north and south
And I'll probably never have it all figured out
But what I know is I wasn't meant to walk this world without you
And I promise I'll try
Yeah I'm gonna try to give you every little part of me
Every single detail you missed with your eyes
Then maybe
Maybe, yeah maybe

One day
We'll meet again and you'll need me, you'll see me completely
Every little bit
Oh yeah maybe you'll love me, you'll love me then

I don't want to be tough
And I don't want to be proud
I don't need to be fixed and I certainly don't need to be found
I'm not lost
I need to be loved
I just need to be loved
I just want to be loved by you and I won't stop 'cause I believe
That maybe, yeah maybe
Maybe, yeah maybe

I should know better than to touch the fire twice
But I'm thinking maybe, yeah maybe you might

Maybe, love maybe

The first verse sounds a lot of like a confession, giving in to the inevitability of human imperfection. The speaker admits she (using "she" since the singer is female) is far from perfect, that she can still break, make mistakes and she mentions how difficult she can be, but she still believes that she can be loved despite her flaws if a person chooses to accept them and take her for who she is ("All you have to do is hold me, and you'll know and you'll see just how sweet it can be if you'll trust me, love me, let me, maybe..").

The entire second verse is somewhat like hopeful thinking of the time that she and the person who she is singing to will come to terms with one another ("when we're at the same place, when we're on the same road, when it's ok to hold my hand") Though it may seem like the song is being sung to a lover, I believe when she says "trust me, love me, let me, maybe" she is singing to someone who disapproves of her for some unspecified reason (one of her imperfections), and this is her saying, "Maybe if you gave me a chance, you would understand me and my reasons why, and you would learn to love me [accept me]."

At the bridge, the speaker says, "But what I know is I wasn't meant to walk this world without you" hints that the person this song is directed to is important to her in some way. Also, when she says, "Yeah I'm gonna try to give you every little part of me, every single detail you missed with your eyes, then maybe, maybe, yeah maybe" she is saying that there's more to her than the flaws that the person she is addressing can't seem to embrace. Finally towards the end the lines, "I don't need to be fixed and I certainly don't need to be found, I'm not lost, I need to be loved" mean that these flaws aren't necessarily wrong and they just make the speaker who she is, and she just wants to be loved for being herself.

The entire song in general is about asking to be accepted and loved. It's probably for that reason that I decided to sing this at the Night of Noise.