Winds howled. Rains spit down.
All these nights playing precious games.
Cheap hotel in some seaboard town
Closed down for the winter and whispered names.
Puppy-dog waves on a big moon sea
Snap our heels half-heartedly
And how come you know better than me,
That this is not love.
No, this is not love.

Empty drugstore postcards freeze
Sunburst images of summers gone.
Think I see us in these promenade days
Before we learned October's song.
Out on the headland, one gale-whipped tree;
Curious, head bent to see.
And how come you know better than me
That this is not love.

How come you know better than me
How come you know better than me
Howcome you know better than me
That this is not love.

Down to the sad south, smokey plumes
Mark that real world city home.
Broken spells and silent gloom
Ooze from that concrete honeycomb.
Puppy-dog waves on a big moon sea
Snapped our heels half-heartedly
And how come you know better than me
That this is not love.
No this is not love.


Lyrics submitted by inpraiseoffolly

This Is Not Love Lyrics as written by Ian Anderson

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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This Is Not Love song meanings
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    General Comment

    What is more depressing than a seaside resort in wintertime? "Cheap hotel in some seaboard town, closed down for the winter and whispered names" and "Empty drugstore postcards freeze sunburst images of summers gone." Ian applies this image to portray a relation between two people that is coming to its end ("before we learned October's song"). Though the narrator remembers the good times they had together ("Think I see us in these promenade days"), he is aware that nothing can stop their breaking up: "Broken spells and silent gloom ooze from that concrete honeycomb" and the mutual reproaching has started: "And how come you know better than me that this is not love".

    The last stanza suggests that this couple went back to this seaside town were they had a great time together during the summertime, in the hope to renew their relationship. From the beach they can see their home town, where it all went wrong: "Down to the sad south, smokey plumes mark that real world city home. Broken spells and silent gloom ooze from that concrete honeycomb"

    bruski1986on February 05, 2007   Link

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