I Don’t Know Why (I Love You)

And that is in fact the case, i.e. this being a song of unrequited love which, from an emotional perspective, is relayed such that you would really believe that the singer’s heart is broken.  However, it does not appear that lyrics were based on Stevie’s personal life, at a time when he was a teenage music superstar.

This is perhaps one of the first songs in (American) music industry history in which the vocalist is directly confronting an unfaithful female.  Previous and concurrent tracks of this nature tended to focus more on promiscuous males.  But that said, I Don’t Know Why doesn’t feature any gender pronouns, and one of its cowriters was in fact a woman.

The lyrics are pretty straightforward and lend to the strong sentiment of dejection Stevie expresses.  He is in love with someone who not only has “cheating ways” but also, most simply interpreted, treats him like crap.  That’s to say that the addressee is not giving the vocalist any reason to be in love with her, but he’s head over heels nonetheless.

What that entails in context is Stevie “pleading” with homegirl to likewise love him, rightfully, in return.  All lyrics considered, that isn’t likely to happen, and the singer probably knows that in the back of his mind.  But in his current state, he obviously can’t conceptualize being without his sweetheart.