I Know Him So Well...

[When I first heard this song, I was in my teenage years. I was attending a musical in RGS with my sister. If I remembered correctly, the concert's title was 'Climb Every Mountain'. It was a very inspiring and memorable evening. This song was one of the songs sung and it stuck in my head till today. Like it very much! ^_^. "I Know Him So Well" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. In this duet, two women – Svetlana, the Russian chess champion's estranged wife, and Florence, his mistress – express their bittersweet feelings for him and at seeing their relationships fall apart... Well, my interpretation of the lyrics is different though......]

Nothing is so good it lasts eternally,
Perfect situations must go wrong,
But this has never yet prevented me,
Wanting far too much,
For far too long,

Looking back,
I could have played it differently,
Won a few more moments,
Who can tell,
But it took time to understand the man,
Now at least I know
I know him well

Wasn't it good?
(Oh so good)
Wasn't he fine?
(Oh so fine)
Isn't it madness,
He can't be mine?
But in the end
He needs a little bit
More than me,
More security,
He needs his fantasy and freedom,
I know him so well

No-one in your life is with you constantly,
No-one is completely on your side,
And though I'd move my world to be with him,
Still the gap between us is too wide,

Looking back,
(Looking back)
I could have played it differently,
(I could have played it some other way),
Learned about the man,
Before I fell
(I was just a little girl)
But I was ever so much younger then,
(Maybe, so much younger then)
Now at least I know
I know him well

Wasn't it good?
(Oh so good)
Wasn't he fine?
(Oh so fine)
Isn't it madness,
He won't be mine?

Didn't I know?
How it would go,
If I knew from the start,
Why am I falling apart?

Wasn't it good
Wasn't he fine?
Isn't it madness,
He won't be mine?

But in the end,
He needs a little bit
More than me,
More security,
He needs his fantasy and freedom,
I know him so well,
It took time to understand him,

I know him so well