He keeps waiting for her to call or show up at his door, despite having been repeatedly stood up, let down and ignored. No matter how hard he tries, the girl just isn’t interested in him. He recognizes he is being used for nothing more than entertainment when he says, “to you I’m a toy but I could be the boy you adore/ if you’d just let me know/ although you’re untrue, I’m attracted to you all the more”. While explicitly complaining about all of this throughout the song, in the end he seemingly admits that he becomes more attracted to her because of these exact reasons. He pleads of the girl, “try to find/ a little time and I’ll make you happy/ I’ll be home, I’ll be beside the phone waiting for you”. This suggests that he would rather be led on and teased, which produces more tension within the songs’ meaning. It is possible to suggest from the song that the narrator is more in love with his own despair than he is with the girl. When the narrator says, “so build me up buttercup, don’t break my heart”, he is asking her to love and compliment him implying he wants to be told nice thigs, even if they are not true or sincere. This suggests that the girl may take advantage of him and his endearment for her, as she is undeniably aware that he would do anything for her. She builds him up with confidence, only to confess to him that she doesn’t have feelings towards him making him question her cruel behavior. “Why do you build me up Buttercup, baby/ Just to let me down and mess me around/ and then worst of all you never call, baby/ when you say you will, but I love you still.” The desperation becomes evident, as the narrator admits to loving this girl so much he doesn’t care that he has previously been let down he will continue to love her.Because he loves this girl so much, he prioritizes her over everything else, saying “I need you more than anyone, darlin’/ you know that I have from the start”. The girl that the narrator loves and addresses in the song has lead him on, saying that she will call, but never actually doing so. The song is stylized in ways that make it difficult to recognize or feel the pain behind the actual lyrics, with bright and popping brass instruments and snappy drum hits, displaying many qualities of both soul and ska. The song seems as though it is cheerful and upbeat, with vocals that are smooth and relaxed, unlike what you would expect of somebody who is crying out in passion. The mood of the music ironically undermines the meaning of the lyrics throughout, as it is a passionate song in which a man professes his unrequited love for a girl who has continuously thwarted his affection. The entire essence of the song is a single persons’ desperation about a girl who does not reciprocate the same feelings of affection.
Their second greatest single, “Build Me Up Buttercup” reached number two in the UK and was number three on the US’s Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.
“Build Me Up Buttercup”, was written by producer Tony Macauley and songwriter Mike D’Abo, neither of whom were members of the band. The Foundations, a multiracial group signed by the UK’s Pye Label, were formed in 1967 and are considered to be one of the first British groups to successfully adopt the Motown sound. So fill me up, Buttercup, don't break my heart(Do's)Aye, baby baby, tell me, aye (more do's) I-I-I need you-oo more than anyone, darlin'
So fill me up, Buttercup, don't break my heart I need you, I need you, more than anyone, darlin'
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