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Will To Love Lyrics
It has often been my dream
To live with one
who wasn't there
Like an ocean fish
who swam upstream
Through nets,
by hooks, and hungry bears.
When the water grew less deep
My fins were aching
from the strain
I'm swimming in my sleep
I know I can't go back again.
Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.
I can be like
a fire in the night
Always warm
and giving off light
But there comes a time
when I shine too bright
Oh, I'm just a fire in the night.
And now my fins are in the air
And my belly's
scraping on the rocks
I still think
someone really cares
And I'll keep swimming
till I stop.
Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.
I'm like a singer on the stage
With the golden lights
and liquid rage
Down from the mountains
to the sea
Cool running love
keeps cleansing me.
It keeps my gills
from getting dry
But it distorts things
in my eyes
Sometimes I see
what really isn't there
Like my true lover, and I care.
Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.
Sometimes I ramble on and on
And I repeat myself
till all my friends are gone
And get lost in snow
and drown in rain
And never feel the same again.
I remember the ocean
from where I came
Just one of millions all the same
But somewhere
someone calls my name
I'm a harpoon dodger,
and I can't, won't be tamed.
Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.
Baby, if I see boredom
in your eyes
I'll know my river has run dry
But I won't turn back
with that lonely tide
I bought that ticket
and I'll take that ride.
If we meet along the way
Please sway beside me,
let us sway together
Our tails together
and our fins and mind
We'll leave this water
and let our scales shine
In the sun above
and the sky below
So all the water
and earth will know
It has often been my dream
To live with one
who wasn't there.
One of my favorite Neil tunes, pretty obscure and sort of under the radar for the casual fan. I understand that Neil recorded this one while sitting next to a campfire, thus the crackling and popping of the burning wood adds to the moody tone of this lamenting love song.
As far as its meaning, Neil uses the metaphor of salmon swimming upstream to spawn to express how strong his resolve is in regards to his search for love and happiness. I suppose it could be pretty easy to slip into the "I'm never going to put myself out there again, I'm never going to let myself get hurt again" mode, but Neil shuns that with this song.
"It has often been my dream to live with one who wasn't there." Perhaps my favorite Neil song line of all time. Not sure what that part means and I actually found this website hoping I could get some ideas. Anybody??
"It has often been my dream to live with one who wasn't there." - Well, for me, it´s very straight, to live with someone you dream about very often - for me it´s a fictitious person - just a picture of a sweet girl.
"It has often been my dream to live with one who wasn't there." - Well, for me, it´s very straight, to live with someone you dream about very often - for me it´s a fictitious person - just a picture of a sweet girl.
"Got the will to love" - I don´t know what you think about it - for me it means: never give up on love even when you don´t have one to share your love with - but love can be felt in many different ways so - for me it´s about being...
"Got the will to love" - I don´t know what you think about it - for me it means: never give up on love even when you don´t have one to share your love with - but love can be felt in many different ways so - for me it´s about being in love with a girl who isn´t there..
@danvtemt Yet another brilliant composition - not to mention, performance - by the great NY. He finds himself some seemingly-original takes on the common rock n roll that’s most of what’s out there (I only use “seemingly” as a signifier that, NOTHING is TRULY original, it’s all been done before, and a lot longer ago than any of us could believe, probably…Anyway, what we listeners might call “original” is, generally speaking, an artist taking just a slightly-different angle to tackle an Old, and tired, subject, that’s been discussed to death over the ages lol), and it’s not just “seemingly”, it...
@danvtemt Yet another brilliant composition - not to mention, performance - by the great NY. He finds himself some seemingly-original takes on the common rock n roll that’s most of what’s out there (I only use “seemingly” as a signifier that, NOTHING is TRULY original, it’s all been done before, and a lot longer ago than any of us could believe, probably…Anyway, what we listeners might call “original” is, generally speaking, an artist taking just a slightly-different angle to tackle an Old, and tired, subject, that’s been discussed to death over the ages lol), and it’s not just “seemingly”, it IS “original”, I just mean to say that even the greatest of song writers aren’t beginning with a blank slate, they’re building on top of what came before them have built…NOTHING is created out of whole Cloth or appears out of thin air, and anyway, what we know as “recorded history” is really just the imaginings of minds, brilliant and otherwise…
I’m sure SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, has used or at least thought of using, the metaphor of a salmon swimming upstream to breed, to equate with human love, but it’s all in the execution…
STAR OF BETHLEHEM, same lp, has a not entirely dissimilar theme, if you will, addressing one of those things in our shared history that we see as an “archetype”, like the Star of Bethlehem, which was probably (maybe just “possibly”?), which Neil says wasn’t limited to ancient times, there’s a Star Of Bethlehem in all our hearts, and when the time Is right to HEAL, and to move FORWARD, to free yourself of the morass of the past, in your mind, you will KNOW it when it happens…don’t despair, the SoB (!) is not something “ancient”, it’s right here in your chest, in your mind, just let it BE, and, again, don’t despair, at least not because you think there’s no LOVE for you in this world…it’s always nearby, in YOUR heart, awaiting the end of its hibernation…
Or maybe I have no fuckin idea and just LOVE knowing that the MASTERS like Neil-Bob-Bruce are still out there, doing it, because, while it’s NEVER ok to get bogged down in the past, it’s ALWAYS ok to look back, just to see where you came from, and therefore, where you’re going…
i love this song. None of the lyrics have any sober meaning. I love the man and analyzing his work, but, he was f***ing gone when he did this one. He came up with this song on the spot while under the influence of at least a handful of substances. He was in a borrowed (rented?) house and the crackling/popping is from the fireplace. He recorded it on a 4-track I believe. Took it to studio, tried to redo it, but he could not. The verses and choruses have no set length or timing. Impossible to do again. So he did some minor tweaking on it, who knows what, and here it is. At about 1 minute or so in, if you're real quiet, you can hear him during the production/engineering of it and saying, "Turn it down..." Kind of cool.
Even if he was drunk at the time, the fella can write. Good song.
Currently reading 'Shakey' by Jimmy McDonough, a very long book. I never realized what a crazy prick Neil is (was?) until I read this book. Ever since I was a teenager, I somehow felt that Neil 'spoke to me' in a way that no other singer could. Decades later, in the months it has taken me to get through McDonough's biography, I have dug into Neil's work like an obsessed geek. Neil's music is inconsistent, emotional, and deeply personal. Wikipedia is a great reference for critical reaction to Neil's various songs and albums. Anyone who has criticized "Will to Love" has likely not listened to it while stoned off their ass driving through the desolate Flint Hills of Kansas. Holy shit what an intense song. Neil, I cannot ever know or understand you, but you understand me to the depths of my soul even though you have no idea who I am.
I heard this song for the first time last night and was hugely impressed. I found myself identifying very strongly with the lyrics, as I have done many times previously with Neil Young's words, particularly those about love.
I wasn't aware that it was recorded at a campfire - but this explains the slightly lower than normal volume, as well as the crackling which, I will admit, I found slightly distracting at first. Now I know this, however, I'm sure it will only add to my appreciation of the song.
As for the line you mentioned - "It has often been my dream to live with one who wasn't there." - this one also jumped out at me. To me it either means simply that he feels he has never been able to find his 'soulmate', if you will, or more likely, that he has often found himself alone and 'dreaming' that there was someone there living with him.
I agree although my interpretation is slightly different. I think he was referring to someone he really loved although she was never there and thus unattainable. I also loved the crackling of the fire in the background.
I agree although my interpretation is slightly different. I think he was referring to someone he really loved although she was never there and thus unattainable. I also loved the crackling of the fire in the background.
Not drunk, I mean under the influence =p