meaning of the song if you could read my mind
If You Could Read My Mind Lightfoot has cited his divorce for inspiring the lyrics,[2] saying they came to him as he was sitting in a vacant Toronto house one summer.[3] At the request of his daughter, Ingrid, he performs the lyrics with a slight change now: the line "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you lack" is altered to "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that we lack." He has said in an interview that the difficulty with writing songs inspired by personal stories is that there is not always the emotional distance and clarity to make lyrical improvements such as the one his daughter suggested.[4]
Thinkin Bout You Lyrically, "it's a melancholy record discussing the torturous pain that comes with thinking about someone all the time, even if they may not reciprocate the sentiment."[16] The track, being originally written for a woman, can be viewed as unisex composition.[18] Following Ocean's revelation that he has been attracted to people of the same sex, some critics noted that lines such as "my eyes don't shed tears, but boy they pour when I'm thinkin bout you" had another additional message, expressing his own thoughts on love.[18][19] The song has been called a forbidden love track, expressing Ocean's turmoil about his own hidden sexuality.[20] The refrain "boy" was originally viewed synonym for “wow”, though "new urgency" was pumped into the track, adding extra pathos.[20] Ocean reminisces about his "first time", with an ex-lover who is addressed as "boy" during the song.[21] The track is an apology to an unnamed lover.[22] Lines like "a tornado flew around my room before you came," serves as a confession, and "excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain in Southern California" outlines Ocean's own grief about the situation, admitting the situation got out of control.[22]