Song Meaning
The lyrics immediately plunge into a moment of profound, almost overwhelming discovery. The speaker is hit with a wave of emotion, asking "How long has this been goin' on?" It's a mix of regret for past ignorance and sheer, blissful astonishment. This new feeling is so intense it brings "salty tears" and "chills up my spine."
The core tension here isn't conflict with another person, but with the speaker's own past self. There's a palpable sense of having been asleep or oblivious, highlighted by lines like "Where have I been all these years?" and "What a dunce I was before." This self-reproach, however, is quickly overshadowed by the joy of the present, framing the past as merely a prelude to this exhilarating revelation.
The bridge offers the most striking piece of craft: the hyperbolic comparison, "I know how Columbus felt / Finding another world." This isn't just a new romance; it's a paradigm shift. The speaker elevates a personal, intimate experience to a historical, world-altering event, suggesting the profound, transformative impact this connection has had. It's a bold, almost audacious claim that perfectly captures the feeling of a universe expanding.
What makes these lyrics so effective is their raw, unvarnished emotional honesty. The speaker doesn't just describe feelings; they embody them through visceral reactions like feeling they "could melt" or being "hurled" into heaven. The repeated, urgent question "How long has this been going on?" acts as both an expression of wonder and a plea for understanding, drawing the listener into the speaker's immediate, exhilarating experience of a world suddenly made new.
