Solitaire

The speaker remembers a relationship in which she cared deeply and tried to please someone who did not return her feelings. She spent lonely nights waiting for that person, but eventually learned to live without them. When the former partner comes back, she has moved on. The emotional shift is from hurt and helplessness to independence, with a note of bitterness at the end.

“Solitaire” is a card game played alone, so it stands for the speaker’s isolation as well as the nights she spent without companionship. The image of one person holding all the cards suggests that the partner had control in the relationship: the speaker felt unable to change what was happening. Staring at the telephone conveys anxious waiting and uncertainty about whether the absent person will return.

The repeated question about where the partner was when she played solitaire turns the song’s loneliness into a reminder of past neglect. Now the roles have reversed: the former partner is left waiting, while the speaker refuses to come back. This can sound like a wish for the other person to understand the pain they caused, but it may also show that she is protecting herself rather than simply seeking revenge.