Don't Treat Me Like a Stranger

Written by Kenny G.

"The sky is not crying...
No," he says, "The sky is blue"
I remember sayin' that to a friend of mine
Him sayin' "Yes, baby, the sky is blue"
And he said, "You don't understand at all what I mean
The sky is raining, raining, raining"
He who needed me so much for so very long

"Don't treat me like a stranger"
"That sounds like a song" she said
"And I'd never put you in any danger
And I know you've known that all along"

Well, he said, "I could come right through your door any night
And I don't ever want to know about new people in your life
Let me make one thing in all your dreams real clear
Now let's talk about faith"

Well, he called me as I walked through the door
And ran down his long hallway and I turned around for more
No, there is not as much laughter as there used to be
Things have changed, not to speak of you and me

"Don't treat me like a stranger"
"That sounds like a song" she said
"And I'd never put you in that danger
And you've known that all along"

"No, the sky is not crying"
Oh, yes, the sky was crying
So were you
So were you

Well, he called me as I walked through the door
And I ran down his hallway and I turned around for more
I said, "No, there is not as much laughter here as there used to be
Things have changed, not to speak of you and me"

That was yesterday...
Not to speak of you and me
And now let's talk about faith
Now let's talk about faith
Oh, he doesn't understand
And he never will

Well, don't treat me like a stranger
No, don't treat me like a stranger
Don't treat me like a stranger
That sounds like a song
Don't treat me like a stranger
Don't treat me like a stranger
Don't treat me like a stranger
Don't treat me like a stranger

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

This song is so sad! Like many of Stevie's unreleased songs, it's very mournful. The first lines echo Juliet, except here they are in a very different context, and are much more moving, in my opinion. In the other song, the conversation is reversed: SHE says the sky is crying, HE says the sky is blue. The fact that he says it here focuses on his sadness, and their inablility to understand each other, to even agree with each other. Yes, I think it's about Lindsey, the man "who needed [her] so much for so very long." But when he needed her, she left him, and this is the basis for the tragic tone of the song. She feels bad about it, too... when he accuses her of "treat[ing him] like a stranger" she reassures him that she would never do that.

Still, he does feel like a stranger in her life. She's wanting to talk about her new friends, friends that she made without him, maybe even new boyfriends, he doesn't want to hear about that! Also, possibly even before she left him he was wanting to isolate her, not wanting her to go out and meet new people because he was jealous and possessive. But when it comes to their relationship, he has faith that they can work it out... and maybe there's a reason for that, because she seems not to be able to let go. When he calls her she "turned around for more." Maybe she means that she kept an emotional attachment to him and kept feeding that by writing songs about him, being near him, and thereby coming back for more. She can't live with him, can't live without him.

But then there's the real heartbreaker: "No, there is not as much laughter as there used to be, things have changed, not to speak of you and me." This is where the song gets really mournful because it's basically saying that they will never be as happy as they used to be together, too much has changed (there's that theme of change again). The best is over, and they can't go back. She has no more faith... but he still does. Because of this, she says, "No, he doesn't understand, and he never will." He'll never understand how she can say that she loves him and still leave him, changing their relationship from one of intimacy to one where he feels that she treats him "like a stranger."