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WEBMISTRESS speculates:
Stevie never recorded this song herself (I wonder why?) but it has Lindsey's name all over it. It gives an insight into how it felt writing songs about someone while they are right there, singing the backup to your words, and arranging your music... all the while having to deal with being the subject of the song (or, if the song's about somebody else, wondering who it is that's taken your place in those songs). In the beginning, Stevie is telling Lindsey not to project his own feelings onto hers - not to take her words and twist their meaning to suit himself, whether to fuel his anger or what. She says that she sees through all the rage he spews at her and realizes it all stems from his great love for her: "You like me, don't you." An understatement, to say the least. He can't hide that from her, no matter how he much he lies and tells her he's forgotten her. She will always know the truth.
The second verse is very interesting. She says he uses his songs to write her letters of hate and love (the quintessential example being Go Your Own Way), but that she doesn't enjoy it. She could "do without" them, because to her, they feel like accusations - "shacking up is all you wanna do" ring a bell? Plus, when Lindsey doesn't think her songs are about him, he goes nuts trying to figure out who they ARE about. Stevie has said that, when she would go to him to arrange some song she had written about love, he used to demand she tell him who she was talking about. She would only tell him, "You don't want to know."
Take, for instance, Sara. I bet he wondered, just like we do, who that "great dark wing" was. Him? Mick? Don Henley? Who exactly was undoing the laces, if it wasn't him? It must have driven him crazy. Most of the time, though, her songs ARE about him, and that's when she tells him "you oughtta know who is it." The ending lines are very telling - she admits that, although they're not together, she still needs him to love her. Lindsey had accused her of as much in songs like What Makes You Think You're the One, and it looks like he was right. I hope Stevie records this someday. I would love to hear her sing it herself.
Want to speculate about "You Like Me"? E-mail me and I'll post your comments.