Cupid

The singer is desperately in love with a girl who does not know he exists. He asks Cupid, the mythical figure associated with love, to make her love him too. His mood moves between playful pleading and genuine distress: he fears losing his happiness, but also promises to love her forever if Cupid helps.

The bow and arrow are images for love arriving suddenly and striking someone’s heart. “Draw back your bow” means to prepare to shoot, while “straight to my lover’s heart” imagines Cupid’s arrow making the girl fall in love. Saying he is “in distress” means he feels very worried or unhappy. His claim that Cupid can “fix” the problem shows how strongly he hopes for help.

The song’s cheerful, repeated appeal to Cupid can sound lighthearted, but the situation has a more complicated side. The singer wants a love that is not yet mutual, and his wish that Cupid make her love him “nobody but me” may seem possessive. It is possible to hear this as comic exaggeration in a romantic song, or as a sincere expression of longing. The lyrics leave open whether he is simply dreaming or expects love to be something that can be caused by magic.