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Bernadette Lyrics
Bernadette, people are searchin' for
the kind of love that we possess.
Some go on searchin' their whole life through
and never find the love I've found in you.
And when I speak of you I see envy in other men's eyes,
and I'm well aware of what's on their minds.
They pretend to be my friend, when all the time
they long to persuade you from my side.
They'd give the world and all they own
for just one moment we have known.
Bernadette, they want you because of the pride that gives,
But Bernadette, I want you because I need you to live.
But while I live only to hold you,
Some other men, they long to control you.
But how can they control you Bernadette,
when they can not control themselves, Bernadette,
from wanting you, needing you,
But darling you belong to me.
I'll tell the world you belong to me,
I'll tell the world, you're the soul of me,
I'll tell the world you're a part of me.
In your arms I find the kind of peace of mind
the world is searching for,
But you, you give me the joy this heart of mine
has always been longing for.
In you I have what other men long for.
All men need someone to worship and adore,
that's why I treasure you and place you high above,
for the only joy in life is to be loved.
So whatever you do, Bernadette, keep on loving me,
Bernadette, keep on needing me,
Bernadette.
the kind of love that we possess.
Some go on searchin' their whole life through
and never find the love I've found in you.
and I'm well aware of what's on their minds.
They pretend to be my friend, when all the time
they long to persuade you from my side.
They'd give the world and all they own
for just one moment we have known.
But Bernadette, I want you because I need you to live.
But while I live only to hold you,
Some other men, they long to control you.
But how can they control you Bernadette,
when they can not control themselves, Bernadette,
from wanting you, needing you,
But darling you belong to me.
I'll tell the world, you're the soul of me,
I'll tell the world you're a part of me.
the world is searching for,
But you, you give me the joy this heart of mine
has always been longing for.
All men need someone to worship and adore,
that's why I treasure you and place you high above,
for the only joy in life is to be loved.
So whatever you do, Bernadette, keep on loving me,
Bernadette, keep on needing me,
Bernadette.
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holy crap! levi stubbs is soooooooooo emo! one of my favorite hdh songs with a classic james jamerson bass groove. as for the lyrics, does anyone else think the narrator's not nearly as different from the men who long to control bernadette as he thinks? he's making a case, and i just don't buy it. stubbs is singing like he's about to pop a jugular with lyrics about these "other men" who can't control themselves. irony aside, no one else is reading this, i'm sure, but vtmatt thanks for the lyrics. one of the classic songs.
This song is what it is, a classic love song. The lyrics are from a different time era, but that doesn't stop the time-tested meaning of the song. So much of what is released today lacks the intensity that songs like this bring across. This is one of my favorites from this era.
Can anyone manage to time the "Bernadette" right after the pause towards the end when singing along. I've been trying for 15 years and have only done it once.
This song is my favorite of the "Motown" sound! It truly is monumentally fun and insanely powerful.
Stubbs is passionate and I like the comparison that blackbryson makes between him and the "ohter men" in the song that he is denouncing. Heck, Stubbs sings that he needs Bernadette to live!
Though, I think that he truly is in love with Bernadette and that she reciprocates that love with him. He is just on such a high and needs to vent his frustrations from the fact that not only is this Bernadette beautiful to look at, she is also beautiful in other ways to behold. It sounds like that she is the perfect woman!
Aside from the meaning of this song, the singing arrangement is superb. The backup sound gives the song another level that is without equal. It drives the listener to epic heights with such a melancholly flavor. At the end of each verse, the backup singers seem to underlie what Stubbs is feeling when they go into their crazy wail.
Example: When he sings "...never find the love I've found in you." the backup singers go crazy with a high-pitched wail which would signify the climax to the sentiment that he is feeling. It happens again when he sings "...I need you to live."
Man, what a great song.
i love this song...it's so great!! though...i really don't connect the word emo with four tops. awww...i love the four tops. SO great. why don't we listen to any of this stuff anymore? i wish my generation did more...the oldies rock!
The melody...the lyrics...it's like he drive a stake in my soul..when he tells us that other men would give everything they own for just one moment of the love they have known and shared, memories of the way it feels to love like that actually bring me to tears. To love like that is worth the agony of losing that love. I may have experienced life's worst betrayals. But feeling that love is the reason for living. God ..to be loved like that. The song is a classic heartwrencher...if only people could realize that the lifelong quest for love once satisfied is the answer to finding happiness. Marcia in Modesto
fuck emo~! don't even say emo in the breath of a four tops song because emo donkey balls compared to this music which is real as compared to that wacked out scenester music.
This is the greatest song in the Motown canon (though it has a LOT of competition--so many great songs), and that moment (you know the one) is one of the great moments in popular music.
One reason the song is so great is that I'm not convinced that Bernadette is actually his woman. Oh yeah, he's talking a good game, but when he shouts her name it's as if he's shouting into the dark void of his soul, begging the universe to make it so. But is it?