Songbird

this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

and it doesnt matter who performs it better in which way.

this song can have so many meanings, it can be seen as positive or negative. but that's what makes good music and great lyrics.

i personally believe this song is about a woman who loves her man dearly and who she wishes the best for, but she doesnt feel that she gets the same.

the sun is shining for him, the birds are singing for him. and he cant or doesnt give that to her. so she wishes love for him but most of all for herself so that she can experience all the beautiful things he gets through her love.

I've listened to this song innumerable times since I first acquired it on vinyl in 1983 and every time it gives me chills as if it were the first time I ever heard it. It's a completely involuntary reaction with which I sometimes play a game to see if I can deliberately make it not happen - and I always lose.

The first two lines cause me to think it's about the death of a loved one but most everything after suggests she is singing from within a love relationship in which she is presently and intensely involved. The somber tone, however, suggests separation and sadness. I've never inferred a single meaning from the lyrics of this song but rather multiple, often contradictory meanings - which may indicate the complexity in the situation in which the writer finds herself.

I think this is a beautiful love song, sung by a woman to the man she considers the love of her life.

"For you, they'll be no more crying For you, the sun will be shining"

She wishes that her lover experiences no pain. That he has only sunshine. Only happiness. She believes that the sun actually SHINES for him. That his presence makes glorious things occur.

"I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright, I know it's right"

When she is by his side she feels at peace. She thinks they were meant for each other.

"To you, I'll give the world, To you, I'll never be cold"

They have been through so much together. She loves him so much that she wants him to know she'd give him anything in her power. They have previously hurt each other and she realizes how awful this is for both of them. She now feels complete trust and vows never to hurt him intentionally again.

"Cause I feel that when I am with you, it's alright, I know it's right"

Again, she is saying that she feels so good when she is near him. Everything is "alright" when she is by his side.

"And the songbirds are singing like they know the score, And I love you, I love you, I love you, Like never before"

Their love was written in the stars. It was meant to happen. The songbirds are singing about it! Her love for this man just keeps growing. She loves him "like never before". She has never loved someone (other than a child) this much.

"And I wish you all the love in the world, but most of all I wish it from myself"

She is saying that she would give him everything. All of the love in the world, if she could. She is also trying to give him all of the love from herself because it hurts her so much to care for someone this deeply.

"And the songbirds are singing like they know the score, and I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before"

No matter what happens in her life, she wants him to know that she loves him "like never before". She not only loves him more and more, but she has never been through anything like this in her life. She has experienced an incredible awakening, because of this love.

I agree with Josie713sg, this is a goodbye, letting-go song. The final line "I wish you all the love in the world, but most of all I wish it from myself" implying he will not be getting love only from her.

It's a very sad, a very loving, and the most generous goodbye song I know of.

Christine Mcvie here is plugged into the timelessness and all encompassing presence of love that we are. At those moments, it doesn't even matter about the future [of the relationship that triggers this feeling] because the love in the present moment fills all the space. And the line "I wish you all the love in the world, but most of all, I wish it for myself" is such an honest poignant call to the truth of outward love and our own wishes for ourself to just BE such love. As beautiful and touching as any song ever written.

Quite possibly the most romantic song ever written. The thought that a man could deserve to have a song written for him like this is amazing.

Christine McVeigh, I love your work.

I dunno, I prefer this version a lot more than Eva\'s It\'s more simple, it sounds more pure, know what I mean? Eva\'s sounds much more drawn out ... yeh I love this song, it\'s so sweet and romantic

Christie McVie sings this beautiful love song from the heart. Makes me cry every time I hear it. I have lived this song only to have it end in a tragic accident. Never to be found again.

Possibly one of the most beautifully simple, and pure, love songs ever written.

I don't know why but I always pictured this song as being about a break-up, with "There'll be no crying for you, The sun will be shining for you" being about how she doesn't want it to be sad, or for either of them to be unhappy and "The songbirds will be singing like they know the score" about how only the birds seem to know what's been said between them, and about the break-up.

But after reading the other comments it does make more sense it being about a good relationship!