Music Review: Belinda Carlisle "I Get Weak"

Belinda Carlisle

I Get Weak

Album: Heaven On Earth

Year: 1988

             Belinda Carlisle has fallen hard for her boyfriend in the flustered “I Get Weak.”

             Uplifting synths open the single, setting a luminous tone. She hides her hands as she reads the menu. She doesn’t want to see him see her hands trembling. He asks her what she’s going to have. She answers “Tiramasu” and then corrects herself, “oh that’s dessert. I meant lasagna.” Earlier, on the way table, she had to be careful not to bump into anything. He has completely taken her over. (“ When I'm with you, I shake inside/My heart's all tangled up/My tongue is tied/It's crazy/Can't walk; can't talk/Can't eat; can't sleep/Oh I'm in love/Oh I'm in deep/’Cause baby.”)

            In the pre-chorus, she closes her door after their goodnight kiss. She has to take a moment to catch her breath. All her usual impulses to run are dulled by him. She feels a pull towards him that she can’t explain. (“With a kiss you can strip me defenseless/With a touch I completely lose control/All that's left of my strength is a memory.”)

             In the chorus, she can’t concentrate. He overpowers her senses, leaving her unable to function. (“I get weak when I look at you/Weak, when we touch
I can't speak when I look in your eyes/I get weak when you're next to me/Weak,  from this love/I can't speak when I look in your eyes/I get weak/I get weak.”)

                His eyes grow wide as he gazes into her eyes. He lifts her chin with his finger and kisses her. She can’t help but melt. (“Romantic eyes, persuasive lips/The helpless heart just can't resist their power/You know you've got a hold of me/You know you've got me where I want to be/'Cause lover.”)

              In the second pre-chorus, every time she is able to compose herself a little, he touches her again and she has trouble finding words. (“Like a wave you keep pulling me under/How I'll ever get out of this, I don't know/I just know that there's no way to fight it.”)
 

               An extended chorus is sung. (“I get weak when I look at you…I get weak/
I get weak.”)

                    The first pre-chorus is sung again.

                  A second extended chorus is sung. (“I get weak when I look at you/Weak - when we touch/I can't speak when I look in your eyes/I get weak when you're next to me/Weak, from this love/I can't speak when I look in your eyes/I get weak when you're next to me/Weak, from this love/I can't speak when I look in your eyes.”)

                   Carlisle is discombalated but is in a perpetual state of happiness. She’s smiling all the time. Everything is just so perfect right now.

                  The  blushing “I Get Weak” can’t contain its excitement.