The lyrics are about a man who does not know if a girl loves him and is afraid of learning the answer, and so he prefers to fantasize that she does.

[5] AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald wrote of the song: Built around a lilting, gracious melody that vaguely recalls some of Wilson's doo wop influences, it's also somewhat akin to some of the contemporary (and mostly upcoming) ballad statements that folk-rock would embrace.

[7] In journalist David Howard's description, the song "specifically demonstrates" Wilson's "newfound insight" of "deconstruct[ing] songs into tiny increments and deal with each instrument individually, stacking sounds one at a time.

"[8] Contributing to this effect, academic Jody O'Regan writes that the arrangement has "Some little accents, like the use of vibraphone, [that] only happen three times, and not always in a repetitive fashion.

"[9] The song is about a man who is afraid that a girl will reveal that she does not love him,[10] and so he instead prefers to fantasize that she does.

[11] Greenwald said that the lyrics are filled with a sense of longing and uncertainty, sort of a flip side to Wilson's 'When I Grow Up to Be a Man.

'"[6] Journalist Scott Interrante's reading of the lyrics is that Wilson uses "a virginity metaphor to discuss his fears of commitment and intimacy in his own marriage.