This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I'm not a woman
I'm not a man
I am something that you'll never understand
I'll never beat you
I'll never lie
And if you're evil I'll forgive you by and by
'Cause you, I would die for you, yeah
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
I'm not your lover
I'm not your friend
I am something that you'll never comprehend
No need to worry
No need to cry
I'm your messiah and you're the reason why
'Cause you, I would die for you, yeah
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
You're just a sinner I am told
Be your fire when you're cold
Make you happy when you're sad
Make you good when you are bad
I'm not a human
I am a dove
I'm your conscious
I am love
All I really need is to know that
You believe
Yeah, I would die for you, yeah
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
Yeah, say one more time
You, I would die for you
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
Two, three, four you
I would die for you
I would die for you
You, I would die for you
You, I would die for you
I'm not a man
I am something that you'll never understand
I'll never beat you
I'll never lie
And if you're evil I'll forgive you by and by
'Cause you, I would die for you, yeah
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
I'm not your lover
I'm not your friend
I am something that you'll never comprehend
No need to worry
No need to cry
I'm your messiah and you're the reason why
'Cause you, I would die for you, yeah
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
You're just a sinner I am told
Be your fire when you're cold
Make you happy when you're sad
Make you good when you are bad
I'm not a human
I am a dove
I'm your conscious
I am love
All I really need is to know that
You believe
Yeah, I would die for you, yeah
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
Yeah, say one more time
You, I would die for you
Darling if you want me to
You, I would die for you
Two, three, four you
I would die for you
I would die for you
You, I would die for you
You, I would die for you
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21
I Would Die 4 U Lyrics as written by Prince Rogers Nelson
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
I used to think it was just about someone declaring his (or her) love to a lover. After actually reading the lyrics, I realized it is about Jesus. I read up on Prince and found out that he is quite spiritual.
When lovers say 'I would die for you', they are generally not meaning to risk their lives, but using life and death metaphorically. As a metaphor, the saying testifies to the lengths of their devotion. It can say, "You matter so much to me that I would put the sanctity of your life and well-being before my own." It can also say, "I don't have any words to express my love for you, and my imagination can only take me to the furthest line to cross, that limit of my own life."
Prince's usage brings something else to the table. He says 'I would die for you / darling if you want me to'. He does not say he is willing to die to save the lover, or that his devotion is so total that there is no limit he would not cross. Rather, he says that the desire of his lover is the most important thing in the world. 'Darling if you want me to'. He is willing to be destroyed at the lover's whim.
This is an interesting twist on the previous interpretations, because the sacrifice he speaks of is at the lover's mere desire, not for his or her being. So whereas previously the saying went: I love you so much, I would even die for you, now the saying goes: Your desire (for me) matters more to me than my own life.
The song is not seeking affirmation or an answer, such as in the similarly structured song 'If It Be Your Will', where Leonard Cohen sings 'If it be your will / That I speak no more / And my voice be still / As it was before / I will speak no more' with great emphasis on the phrase 'If it be your will' to invite an answer from the lover. Rather, it is a celebration, almost, of the lengths of his devotion, yes, but also the contingency of his being on the lover's desire for him.
i agree tis about jesus and that he is everything. not that im religious though
Yes, Prince is spiritual, always was. A lot of his songs have strong spiritual overtones (i.e. Seven).
Now he is a Jehovah's Witness, but he wasn't when this song came out.
I agree that this song is about Jesus, and it is powerful because EVERYONE thinks it is a typical song about couple love. But right away you know it's not, "I'm not a woman, I'm not a man".
it's about the relationship in Purple Rain
Appolonia is The Kid's Soul Mate He's talking about his soul, it's not his body, it's what one loves with, the soul.
The river of addiction flows You think it's hot, but there won't be no water When the fire blows Dig it
Unforgetable song from the legendary Purple Rain album
Prince is spiritual? Wow that just blows my mind. I don't believe it. Sex is his religion it seems, plain and simple.
I wondered if I was the only one who caught that.
Yes! Exactly! Listened to it for a long time and then it just HIT me all of a sudden! It's All About Jesus. Color me shocked. An album that is kind of dedicated to romantic, physical love gives us something transcendent and spiritual. And yet, is it REALLY that surprising? When it's love and it's GOOD, it can get pretty close to the divine,no?
Prince is so unbearably talented it would be most shocking if he weren't in close contact with God.