I’ve always seen love as the safety net of writing. Just when you think everything about it has been said there’s a new idea, a new metaphor. There are so many angles to be taken as well. The heartbreaker, the heartbroken, the heartless. However, I’ll be focusing on those who have had their heart stolen. 

Frank Sinatra’s “Bewitched”, like several other songs, follow a particular rhyme pattern. The ABAB rhyme pattern is fairly simple and is used for most songs. Not only is it pleasing to the ear but it makes the song lyrics easier to remember.

“She’s a fool and don’t I know it
But a fool can have her charms
I’m in love and don’t I show it
Like a babe in arms

Love’s the same old sad sensation
Lately I’ve not slept one wink
Since this half-pint imitation
Put me on the blink“

His lover makes him feel a love that is as strong as a love one has for their own mother. This love Frank is experiencing has reduced him to a child as the thoughts of her pleasantly haunt him at night.

“I’m wild again, beguiled again
A simpering, whimpering child again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I?

I couldn’t sleep and wouldn’t sleep
Love came and told me I shouldn’t sleep
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I?“

Though he is acting out of character because of this love he is not unaware. The spell he is put under is one that seems to occupy all of his mind and demands all of his attention. The lyrics imply that he would simply do anything to keep this love aflame.

“I lost my heart, but what of it
She is cold, I agree
She can laugh but I love it
Although the laugh’s on me

I’ll sing to her, bring spring to her
And long for the day when I’ll cling to her
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I?“

However by the end of the song we find out that this love is perhaps one sided. This relationship flourishes in his mind alone and this desperate situation is not lost on him. Making note of her coldness brings a sense of reality to this love song by addressing the other side of the coin.

Sleepless nights spent longing strongly remind me of the Lucy poems written by William Wordsworth. Their similar struggle to rid their hearts of this bittersweet burden is easier said than done. Drowning in their deepening love, their adoration grows and manifests into something much more than simple thoughts. Their actions become directed by their lover’s influence.

Though they refer to spring in different ways the relevance still remains. Spring is a season in which things grow and blossom quite like how they wish their relationship with their lovers would. Whether it be with a mic or a writing utensil these men long and yearn like no other.

To hear Bewitched or listen to similar songs:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uGwaREp_0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2di83WAOhU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mitLcbHHz8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYSbUOoq4Vg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zrSoHgAAWo
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvxagNIBVLU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul041CSNJto
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUocQ_Sxcw