When I said I needed you
You said you would always stay
It wasn't me who changed but you and now you've gone away
Don't you see that now you've gone
And I'm left here on my own
That I have to follow you and beg you to come home

You don't have to say you love me, just be close at hand
You don't have to stay forever, I will understand
Believe me, believe me, I can't help but love you
But believe me, I'll never tie you down
Left alone with just a memory
Life seems dead and so unreal
All that's left is loneliness, there's nothing left to feel

You don't have to say you love me, just be close at hand
You don't have to stay forever, I will understand
Believe me, believe me
You don't have to say you love me just be close at hand
You don't have to stay forever, I will understand
Believe me, believe me


Lyrics submitted by Kitten_61, edited by Paddyy

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me Lyrics as written by Simon Napier-bell Giuseppe Donaggio

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

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You Don't Have To Say You Love Me song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    The words are so beautiful. They don't write or sing like this any more!

    kmk_natashaon June 21, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Just heard a story on this one. Dusty was supposedly in Italy and heard an Italian song called lo Che Non Vivo by Pino Donaggio. She loved the melody but couldn't relate to the Italian lyrics - so she brought a copy of it back to England and asked two friends of hers to write English lyrics to the melody. They ended up with this. Love this song.

    cwson July 23, 2015   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Reminds me of my Mum singing when l was little

    chriskiellerupon October 28, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    its pretty self-explanatory, i love it.

    Rllngstn72on December 29, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song...it's so beautiful and sad at the same time. It could be about an ex-girlfriend talking to her ex-boyfriend or vice versa about how the other left them and even though the one that left them doesn't love him/her anymore, they still want them to care and be there for them. The lyrics are so beautiful.

    awhitefloweron January 02, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    heavy hitting song.

    love is that two way street supposedly, well; listen to this song and the wheels in your head turn a little more thinking about that...

    right maria?

    recordstyleon March 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    beautiful

    depon June 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think whiteflower is close, but missing it a little.

    This chick loves the guy so much, she doesn't care if he loves her, just as long as she can hang around. She won't "tie him down", so he can go do whatever, as long as he is "close at hand". She can't help but love him.

    Pretty sad.

    Patrykon December 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Great

    [Edit: Clarity ]
    TomSmith1234on November 02, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    I've loved this song since I was a kid. I think it's beautifully sung and performed by the band, a real masterpiece of early 60's writing and musical drama.

    But I didn't go through the lyrics in full until lately and they've transformed my opinion of them. They say, "you can get away with anything you want, treat me like a doormat, and I'll be here for you". Which is an atrocious message.

    In fairness to the song, a lot of early 60's lyrics have this devoted-girl-demanding-boy theme and it's a sign of the sexism of those distant times. It'll always be a fabulous song to me...but I don't think I'll be singing along soon.

    TonyM101on April 10, 2017   Link

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