When I see you again
Will it be the same?
When I see you again
Will it be over?
When I see you again
Will your great eyes still say

"What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby, baby, baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby, baby"

So she walks slowly down the hall
There are many doors in the hallway
And she stares at the stairs
Ooh, there are many things to stare at these days
If she sees him again
Will your very best friend
Will your very best friend
Ooh, have been replaced by some other?

What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby, baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby, baby

And the dream says I want you
And the dream is gone
So she stays up nights on end
Well, at least there is a dream left

If I see you again
Will it be over?
If I see you again
Will it be the same?
If I see you again
Will it be over?
Again and again
Over and over

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

I think this is the first time since Frozen Love that Stevie and Lindsey sing a song where they seem to answer each other. Stevie has done this in several of her other duets - with Don Henley in Leather and Lace, with Tom Petty in Stop Draggin' My Heart Around. But with Lindsey, they have always sung harmonies together, as in I Don't Want to Know; they haven't taken turns singing separately. I'm going to read something into that fact: Stevie didn't like writing a song where she had to write a part for Lindsey to sing separately - perhaps it was too awkward. And Lindsey sure wasn't going to do it - in fact, I've heard he didn't even want to sing the last lines by himself here. But he was outvoted, and so we have an answer back-and-forth duet (much later, Twisted will be the same way). Still, it's an interesting idea, although even here Stevie sings most of it with Lindsey only coming in at the end to echo her.

With the first lines, Stevie is saying that things have changed, and when she sees Lindsey again, will things be even more different? Will there be even more of a distance between them (she probably knew he was wanting to leave at this point)? Again, she mentions those eyes (see Blue Denim), and now, those eyes still show some feeling towards her - they care "what's the matter". But will that stop now as well, now that their only remaining connection has been cut?

In the second verse, she is lost without him,"staring at the stairs". She is afraid, now that he's gone, she will be replaced and completely out of his life for good. This is painful to think of, because she had always dreamed that they would be together again someday - and she still wants him. No Questions Asked displays a similar sentiment, showing Stevie's conflicting feelings about Lindsey. Lindsey, of course, was at the short end of that stick, since she was always giving him hope and then taking it away, not letting him go but not letting him close to her either. He'd had enough of it along time ago, as is shown in songs like What Makes You Think You're the One.

The last part is given to Lindsey, a repeat of Stevie's earlier concerns, but without the emotional investment. It's almost a curiosity to him - will it be the same or won't it? If it happens at all! As the writer of this song, Stevie must have known Lindsey considered himself through with her in every way, after this album even severing musical ties with her. In fact, he seemed a bit contemptuous of the fact that she still felt so connected to him that she continued to write about him. Once I saw an interview back in the early nineties where he was joking about it. He said he wondered if she was still writing about him but he didn't dare ask!

 

MICHELLE speculates:

I have speculated on 'Isn't It Midnight' and that speculation connects to this one. Please read my thoughts on 'Isn't it Midnight' before reading this.

In my speculation of 'Isn't It Midnight,' I played on the possibility that Lindsey and Christine had an affair of some sort when he visited her in Switzerland (when she was working on her solo album). I also toyed with the ongoing relationship of Stevie and Lindsey that didn't (according to them) come to a real end until 1987.

I think 'When I See You Again' relates, as does 'You and I, Part II' to these relationships and the relationship between the three of them (Stevie, Lindsey, Christine) in general...

"When I see you again
Will it be the same?
When I see you again
Will it be over?
When I see you again
Will your great eyes still say"

One can assume that Stevie found out about Christine and Lindsey's affair relatively soon afterward. In fact, it could have been an issue in their '87 fight. Some think that Lindsey's feelings for Christine were part of the reason he left at that time, in addition to the need to expand creatively. Maybe Stevie assumed that something would happen between Christine and Lindsey when he went to Switzerland... So, here, when she sees him afterward (either after the affair or after she finds out), she wonders if it will be the same? Will it be the end of their relationship for good?

"'What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby, baby, baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby
What's the matter baby, baby'"

Will he still care about her? Maybe that's what she wonders.

"So she walks slowly down the hall
There are many doors in the hallway
And she stares at the stairs
Ooh, there are many things to stare at these days
If she sees him again
Will your very best friend
Will your very best friend
Ooh, have been replaced by some other?"

This is the first time I have read the lyrics to this song. I thought that, in this verse, Stevie said, "If she sees him again/ With your very best friend/ With your very best friend/ You have been replaced by some other" but, apparently, she doesn't. I think, there, she is talking about Lindsey in second-person ("your") and Stevie, herself, is his "very best friend" that has been replaced by some other (Christine). The beginning of this verse, she's telling a story. There's not really all that much to make of it (it's like 'Love Is' where Stevie talks about the girl falling to the floor, etc) except that she's alone ('she' being Stevie in the song and in this sentence).

"And the dream says I want you
And the dream is gone
So she stays up nights on end
Well, at least there is a dream left"

Stevie seems to still want him. She's not over him. She won't be for a while. But the dream is seemingly gone. She can't have him and it keeps her up at night... but, until it's really over, there's still the possibility of Stevie and Lindsey getting back together, I guess. Until this affair happens, it seems.

"If I see you again
Will it be over?
If I see you again
Will it be the same?
If I see you again
Will it be over?
Again and again
Over and over"

Lindsey's part. This is the saddest part of the song for me. He's responding to her questions. If we ignore the fact that Stevie wrote both parts, it seems as if neither of them really wants to believe their relationship is over. But, Stevie did write it alone so, maybe, she doesn't want it to be over and wants that same feeling affirmed through him, though it is her words? The last lines: "Will it be over?/ Again and again/ Over and over..." Their relationship was like this for a long time. They were together, then apart, then together (not officially, but, as Stevie said, for a while, Lindsey would still go and sleep with her at night, etc), and so on... The end seems to neglect mention to any other relationship but theirs (Stevie and Lindsey) which is interesting.

Then, the album finishes with the upbeat 'You and I, Part II" which is all Lindsey and Christine again...