The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Got a message in my head
That the papers had all come
Richard Manuel is dead
And the daylight's coming on
I've been wandering through the dark
Now I'm standing on the lawn
[Chorus]
If I could give all my love to you
I could justify myself
But I'm just not coming through
You're a pill to ease the pain
Of all the stupid things I do
I'm an anchor on the line
Of a clock that tells the time
That is running out on you
It was cold when I awoke
And the day was halfway done
Nearly spring in San Francisco
And I cannot feel the sun
You were sleeping next to me
But I knew you'd be gone
[Chorus]
Take some time before you go
To think of Mondays coming down
And the people that you knew
And the ones that aren't around
You've been fading day to day
I've been moving town to town
[Chorus]
That the papers had all come
Richard Manuel is dead
And the daylight's coming on
I've been wandering through the dark
Now I'm standing on the lawn
[Chorus]
If I could give all my love to you
I could justify myself
But I'm just not coming through
You're a pill to ease the pain
Of all the stupid things I do
I'm an anchor on the line
Of a clock that tells the time
That is running out on you
It was cold when I awoke
And the day was halfway done
Nearly spring in San Francisco
And I cannot feel the sun
You were sleeping next to me
But I knew you'd be gone
[Chorus]
Take some time before you go
To think of Mondays coming down
And the people that you knew
And the ones that aren't around
You've been fading day to day
I've been moving town to town
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by Shanemarvin1990
If I Could Give All My Love Lyrics as written by Ben Mize Adam Duritz
Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"This song is about someone thinking about his life passing him by… well, it's about me thinking about my life passing me by. I was looking back on this relationship of mine that was gone.
A long time ago I was coming home from being out all night, drinking with this girl and some friends. Me and the girl came back to my house; this was when I lived in Berkeley. It was about 6:30 in the morning, so the paper was there. I went inside and looked through it before crashing, and it said that Richard Manuel [of the Band] had died; he hung himself in a hotel room in Florida. I just sat there at seven in the morning, still pretty wasted, thinking how impermanent things were. I remember thinking that you just can't let things slip by you, because one day they're gone. The girls that you can't get your act together for, they go off and marry other people. People die. Life is not sitting around, waiting for you."
You start this reflective song with a catchy, upbeat guitar lick.
That's about just aching to let it out. Each chorus starts off with that line: 'If I could give all my love to you ...' It's not until the second line that he adds this caveat: "… but I can't."