If You Can Want

The speaker is addressing someone who does not love them yet but still wants their company. Rather than giving up, the speaker promises to stay available and wait. The mood is hopeful and patient, though the repeated offer to be there also hints at longing and uncertainty.

The central idea is a chain of feelings: wanting may grow into needing, caring, and eventually loving. This is the speaker’s “philosophy”—a personal belief, not a rule that must always be true. “Push can turn to shove” usually describes a situation becoming more forceful or difficult; here, it is paired with “like can turn to love” to suggest that feelings can change over time. Saying they would be a “millionaire” if waiting were paid shows, playfully, that they expect to wait a very long time.

The song can be heard as a sincere promise of devotion: the speaker is ready to answer whenever the other person calls. But there is another possible reading: the speaker may be placing too much hope in the idea that wanting someone will eventually become love. The lyrics do not tell us whether that change will happen, so their confidence sounds both reassuring and vulnerable.