I love Tonic. It's good to see bands that aren't as widely remembered getting their chance to shine, because they're worth knowing about.

Took my now wife to see these guys with Dishwalla for one of our first dates in late 1996 and this became kind of a significant song for us. Still is pretty much to this day

It's a romantic song. The writer said: "When I was 21 or 22, I was in love with somebody who my mom did not feel was a good fit. So my family disowned me for about three years. And the last conversation I had with my mother when I was home I’d said, 'if you could only see the way she loves me, maybe you would understand.' I just wrote that song, after that phone call, literally in a matter of minutes."

Lemon parade and sugar are both great albums from start to finish. Great band!

You guys in combination absolutely nailed it! The song *IS* a love song, but the song it written in the form of the song-writer singing to someone else about his love for a certain woman. And that "someone else" is, in fact, the song-writer's MOTHER whom the song-writer had a toxic relationship with. So you *both* were right...it's a love song (between the song-writer and the woman he loves) and a toxic song (between the song-writer and his mother who doesn't approve of the relationship). Well done to you both!

There are a lot of good bands that came out around the same time as Tonic. such as, Sister Hazel, The Goo Goo Dolls, Better Than Ezra, Vertical Horizon, Matchbox 20, Duncan Sheik and many more.

I still love to hear this song..brings memories flooding back!🔥

I always saw this song as a battle between the heart and the mind. The heart is deeply in love going on and on about "If you could only see the way she loves me..." while the mind tries to convince himself to run from the abuse, manipulations and lies. Also, the "take a little dirt" lyric I always thought was "and you've got to eat a little dirt to keep what you love." Something we've all had to do at one point in our lives or another. Whether that dirt was fed to us by loved ones who did wrong by us or by those in power who controlled our livelihoods (Example: tolerating a horrible boss who pays the salary you need to put food on the table and keep a roof over head). Great 90's tune and band. Thanks

So nostalgic. I think I was a freshman in high school when this was popular. You guys are killing it! 💙💙

I was a DJ at a bar from 1994-1997 and this song was big 1996-1997 era. They also had a well known song from the first American Pie soundtrack.

A classic 90s hit. Love the reactions!

There’s some classic 90’s pop

I’ve been waiting for this reaction!!! Awesome !! Also, ‘Cracker - Low’ is a must reaction. Is a cross between creep & this song. Cracker -low!!

Oh yeah, this came out when I was in my late 30s and it really resonated with me. There are a couple other hits off this album and I remember going out and buying the CD and it was solid. But for some reason I always loved this one. It sounded just appropriately modern enough for when it came out and I could describe that in musical terms but it definitely moved me. I loved singing it,. Very emotional and definitely a love song. A very powerful love song and just hearing it now after all these years, oh my god. What a fantastic song. I never got to see them live but I heard that they were a really good live show as well.

One of the best song's of the 90's period!

Please now do Edwin McCains I’ll Be.. Tonics “If You Could Only See”came out in 96 and “I’ll Be” came out right after in 97. These two songs went head to head on the charts/airwaves back in the 90’s and both were hits!. Plus the song I’ll be has one of the sexiest saxophone sounds you’ll ever hear!. So PLEASE react to it🙏🏻🙏🏻

The 90’s had some of the most amazing Love Songs ever written. Great Song Similar “Love” Song is “Shame” by Stabbing Westward

LOVE this song

I love this song. It's a one-hit wonder but somehow it sounds like all of the late 90s/early 00s rolled into one single. It sounds a little grunge, a little pop, a little Gin Blossoms, a little Hootie, a little metal.

One of my favorite bands from the 90's.

I love this song...takes me back to a magical, wonderful time in my life!

got to see emerson hart (lead singer) solo and doing a wine tasting on a music cruise...what a cool dude.... i really think i enjoy him more solo doing acoustic now then with tonic...great song btw

This was one of the first songs I played as a DJ at my first radio gig after college. It's actually directed toward his mom, who didn't want him to get married, and was trying to talk him out of it. He was angry, rightfully so, and wrote down the song. He and his GF ended up not getting married, however.

I saw the title and watched Lex’s eyes looking at you. She nailed the emotion and you got the gist.

Fantastic album. Came out about 1996. My favorite song was Mountain. But all of the songs were great.

Tonic is a band from Ireland a 3 man band.....all their albums are great seen them.....can't go wrong....songs are always READ BETWEEN THE LINES......please play more!!!!

This has always been one of my favorite songs. 😍

Definitely took me Back. One of the 90’s best!!!!! Lex when you smile as you hear that Rock sound kick in 👏👏👏👏.

great freakin album! great song writing.. great everything. this is a really really great band with a writing skill of the great song writers of the 70s. i cant say enough about TONIC, not to mention they sound live as recorded on their albums/Cd's. 100%

I remember this song coming on the radio all the time when I was little in my car seat and I’d sing along before I even knew how to speak sentences 🎶

This song was played multiple times a day on the radio every day throughout the 90's. :)

Omgggggg. I love Tonic. I still have this CD. I wrote them a letter when I was a tween and they sent me a signed photo in response. I wish more people would listen to them. Great band.

One of my favorite songs of all time!!

A good '90s, early '00s post-grunge, alt rock band. Wished yall had seen the music video. Anyhow, see videos for "Open Up Your Eyes", "You Wanted More", "Take Me As I Am" Their songs came on lots of movies and TV shows. A little weird how they just kind of disappeared after 2003 ish and broke up.

Great Band .. When I played in bands we would always opened up our 3 set with Tonic “Open up your eyes”. That long opening note in the beginning of the song got people to listen up. Lol

This is one of my top ten favorite songs.

This is a great song. If you like this give 7mary3 a try, Cumbersome is great one. So many great 90s bands that were very talented.

It's a rhetorical song to the singer's mother about him wanting to marry at a young age

One of their Best & it's Beautiful! Love Tonic.

The song is basically like he's talking to a friend or friends who are all saying oh my God what are you doing with this toxic person, and he's trying to explain like oh if you could only see it, but as he's explaining he's realizing that she's bad for him and to him.

One of my many favorites!!!

"You Wanted More" by Tonic is another amazing song

Oh yeah, song came out around the time I was in one of those relationships. Everyone tried to warn me and I was stubborn and stayed with one of the most hateful and untrustworthy woman I ever met. She looked good though but the hate eventually made her ugly to me. Best thing I did was pack up the car and flip her off as she was pulling into the drive and I was driving away. Haven't seen her since. BTW, my friends all took me back and didn't do the "I told ya so" thing so there was that.

Haven't heard this song in years, maybe even decades. Still sounds great!

👏🏼👏🏼thanks.. tonic is a favorite of mine♥️

My first impression of this song (once I was old enough to actually pay attention to the lyrics) was that this was a break-up song, speaking to his soon to be ex; i.e. the criticisms in the verses being directed at the ex and the chorus being sort of the explanation for the breakup and why he's just not taking her crap any more. Like "you're manipulating me emotionally, you're putting me down, saying I'm such a horrible person for even looking at someone else and all the while you've treated me like crap, like a complete afterthought, running me down all the time. You don't even look at me like I'm a human being. But if you saw how she looks at me, if you saw that you'd get why I'm done with you and your BS and why I'm ending this here and now before it gets any more complicated." Wasn't until, well, literally just now looking through the other comments that I learned the song was based on a conversation with the singer's mother who ended up disowning him for years over a girl he liked that she didn't approve of. And in a way that made the song even more relatable to me because even though I've never been "disowned" by my parents I've had five relationships so far in my lifetime and not a single one of them met my mother's approval despite a range of personalities. Only girl she ever approved of was the one who told me flat out we could never date because my fussiness about food would drive her insane. I mean, plus she was also into a bunch of occultic stuff and all that just wasn't going to mesh well with me being a Christian. When there are obvious compatibility issues while still in the friendship stage it's best to just leave things there. But every single girl I had an interest in I was so sure would be "the one." So far it turns out my mom was right about just about all of them. Still one I'm not entirely sure of, since we never actually reached the point of dating and there was a really messy blow-up over some things that had made that really complicated and just...yea. Never knowing what could have been, what might have been, what I feel SHOULD have been if things had just gone right for once in my life. We were virtually inseparable (but for the 3,000+ miles between us which was kinda the primary issue), use to stay up for hours and hours every night to talk about everything and nothing and all that's in between. And now we rarely even speak at all.

this band has some great songs. Worth checking out more

"Say It Ain't So" was released in '94, this song in '96

Thank you guys for doing this song I absolutely used to love this song and still do keep up the good work guys you are great!!

I loved this band and then met them in a Dallas airport shuttle when I was 16. (1998). They were very nice guys. And Lemon Parade is still one of my favorite albums!

For anybody who are fans of Tonic are even just casual fans, then I HIGHLY recommend going to one of their shows. I was more or less just a casual fan when I first saw them a little over 10 years ago (or whenever it was). Their live performances are fantastic and typically a cheaper priced ticket.

Loved your reaction - great analysis. I liked the way you tried to break it down and understand it. Brad - I have to be honest - i've heard this song for 25 years - and i don't know what the lyrics mean either. I understand your confusion. This might qualify as a one hit wonder - because i can't think of another song by Tonic that received any attention. Maybe i'm missing one. Anyway - thanks for your reaction.

Love Tonic ! One of my favorite 90s band, soooo underrated ...♡

So glad this one was a winner for y'all. Tonic is a really good band.

This was their debut album it was incredible and their second album was incredible too. I never seen them live. I’ve seen a live concert on tv they sound like this.

"You Wanted More" is another great song by them

So awesome you reacted to Tonic. I’ve been making noise for reactors to react to this band. Next react to Gin Blossom’s “Jealousy” or “Found Out About You” which is their biggest songs.

"If You Could Only See" came after "Say It Ain't So." "Say It Ain't So" was a hit in the summer of 1995. "If You Could Only See" was a hit in the summer of 1997.

So good.I love this band so much

This band has a lot of good songs

This whole album is great...hope you listen to more!

You guys should react to some of the 90s swing revival stuff... Squirrel Nut Zipper, Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, etc... Great music

Dam, I remember how popular this song got. Then a couple years later, you never heard from them again.

Still one of my favorites to this day.

"Casual Affair" and "Open Up Your Eyes" are the band's best tracks along with this song from their FIRST album. So, If you enjoyed this tune, you will appreciate these other two songs.

I remember when this band broke i didn’t fully understand how good they were at the time…. Over the last 15yrs i’ve grown to appreciate this Band (Really overlooked 90’s band) from 93-99 there was so much amazing varied music genres on radio & tv (Once Grunge started to decay it opened the door for so much varied music acts to get mainstream attention

I love how you guys can figure out what decade most songs are made

Tonic is a great band with a lot of great songs !!!!

this was the song that always reminded me of my ex .rip,cuz it played on the jukebox in 1998 on our first date.

Tonic is definitely one of the most '90s sounding bands that you can still listen too today without saying this music sounds dated because the songs still hold up.

Lemon Parade was such an amazing album of the 90s, and I feel like nobody remembers Tonic. "Casual Affair" was another song that got radio play from this album.

I knew Emerson (lead singer) and his then wife (the person he wrote the song about) she was my friend, co-worker. She would car pool with me so Emerson could take the car to work at Guitar Center. The comment below about their relationship is correct. His mother disapproved of the marriage. I was there for the whole thing. Saw him performn this song many times with before it became a hit. Such a great song! #LAinthe90s

Casual Affair is also a good one by Tonic.

Was 26 in 1996 was going out with an amazing blue eyed girl at the time I think of her when I hear this because of the line…

Check out "Thick", "Casual affair" which are also from the same album Lemon Parade.

Great song 🎵

Oh and another song that got popular from this 1996 release is OPEN UP YOUR EYES.

Lex was right on! The manipulations and lies part, he was singing to his parents ("you") who didn't approve of his relationship with the woman ("she") he loved. Try "You Wanted More" by Tonic!

I believe his friend is telling him how he gets treated, but he only looks at how she expresses her love to him by the look in her eyes.

I always took it as her eyes being sad (blue) when she says she loves him

For contrast, check out this slightly heavier band called Collective soul. They had a number of hits but this by far was my favorite. But I would listen to them back to back with tonic constantly. It would put you in the shoes of what it was like to like this kind of music at the time. And as a musician, I've got to point out that this is also a fantastic riff and not only that, all of the wonderful wah pedal solos from all the years and decades prior notwithstanding, this has got to be one of the most triumphant. This is so fun to dance to and head bang to. m.kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fNV8Y91nydSWoWw.html

Love this band😊

loved the 90s! they almost made a decade the end of 1997 to 1999 was a drop off in my opinion!

You have to check out “open up your eyes” by tonic also a great rocking song!!

Tonic is tragically underrated as a band. Their guitarist now scores many hit TV shows.

The lead singer said this song is basically about a conversation he was having with his mom over the phone. He was wanting to get engaged to the girl he was dating at the time. The mom didn't like the girl he was dating and he was trying to convince her that it would be a good idea. He said that his mom was right because they broke up not long after lol

Underrated band. Very underrated song.

Maestro Fresh Wes - Let Your Backbone Slide

Awesome song from an awesome album. 👍 The manipulative person in the first verse isn't the woman he loves, it's someone who doesn't approve of their relationship (his mother, specifically). "Well you've got your reasons, and you've got your lies, and you've got your manipulations, they cut me down to size" is directly addressing his mom and her stance on the relationship he has with this woman.

Epic band! There is not a bad song on Lemon Parade or Sugar. Been a huge fan since i first heard their amazing song writing.

Holy Hell time traveling back to my teenage years

Didn't know the band but recognised the song.

this song reminds me of becoming an adult in my teens growing up.

A similar situation with Deep Blue Something's "Breakfast At Tiffany's"

HUGE song in the 90's post grunge.

great song...

Not a big Tonic fan, BUT this song... Is so good! Composition, Lyrics....

Would you review "When you're gone"? Another 90's song.

From what I remember hearing about this song when it first came out it was a song that he wrote to his mom regarding the disapproval of his girlfriend. I think she was catholic and he was Jewish or vice versa.

Still like this song after all these years, Video is good as well. Also Open up your eyes.