Through the darkness,
I can see your light.
And you will always shine,
And I can feel your heart in mine,
Your face I’ve memorized,
I idolize just you.

I look up to
Everything you are.
In my eyes you do no wrong.
I’ve loved you for so long,
And after all is said and done,
You’re still you.
After all,
You’re still you.

You walk past me,
I can feel your pain.
Time changes everything,
One truth always stays the same:
You’re still you,
After all,
You’re still you.

I look up to
Everything you are.
In my eyes you do no wrong,
And I believe in you,
Although you never asked me to.
I will remember you
And what life put you through.

And in this cruel and lonely world,
I found one love …
You’re still you.
After all,
You’re still you.

Lyrics by Linda Thompson, Ennio Morricone

Copyright © Brandon Brody Music, S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

My take:

What makes this song extra special is that it was sung by Josh Groban when he stunned the world with his performance on Ally McBeal, a sitcom that ran on Fox from 1997-2002. I never saw the show, because I don’t watch sitcoms, so I missed what was probably one of the two most surprising and spectacular musical debuts in television history (the other being Susan Boyle’s shocker on Britain’s Got Talent).

I recall reading that after the then unknown Groban sang “You’re Still You” on the season finale of Ally McBeal, the show was swamped with as many as 10,000 e-mails, many from people who wanted to know if the voice they heard was really his or if was dubbed. It was, indeed, Groban’s real voice, and, as a result, he became an “overnight” superstar.

As to the song itself, the lyrics take the listener on a journey through the mind of a man who is unconditionally in love with a woman whom he perceives to be in pain — “You walk past me, I can feel your pain,” and, later, “And what life put you through.”

What I find exceptional about the lyrics is how vividly the writer is able to describe the innermost feelings of a person who, with great intensity, admires the object of his affection from afar. The words are brilliant and straightforward, clear rather than clever.

There is only one metaphor in the whole song, and it’s at the very beginning: “Through the darkness, I can see your light.” What a visual! The first stanza continues with: “And you will always shine, And I can feel your heart in mine, Your face I’ve memorized, I idolize just you.” With these words, your whole being is thrust into the singer’s deep feelings for someone he apparently doesn’t even know, or at least doesn’t know very well.

From that point on, almost every word in this romantic ballad is both eloquent and poetic — “I look up to everything you are” … “ In my eyes you do no wrong” … “And I believe in you.” These are truly remarkable lyrics that convey a clear picture of what this mythical, love-stricken person is feeling.

And, of course, the most important lyrics comprise the theme of the song, “After all, you’re still you.” When you think about it, it’s a pretty good summation of true love — “that after all is said and done, what’s really important to me is that you’re still the same person I’ve loved form the start.”

It would take a woman with a rap-damaged brain to reject a man who was down on one knee singing the lyrics to “You’re Still You,” especially if the guy doing the singing was a charming young man like Josh Groban.