If I Can't Love Her
Alasdair Harvey Lyrics
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And in my twisted face
There's not the slightest trace
Of anything that even hints of kindness
And from my tortured shape
No comfort, no escape
I see, but deep within is utter blindness
Hopeless
As my dream dies
As the time flies
Love a lost illusion
Helpless
Unforgiven
Cold and driven
To this sad conclusion
No beauty could move me
No goodness improve me
No power on earth, if I can't love her
No passion could reach me
No lesson could teach me
How I could have loved her and make her love me too
If I can't love her, then who?
Long ago I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking, I moved onward
No pain could be deeper
No life could be cheaper
No point anymore, if I can't love her
No spirit could win me
No hope left within me
Hope I could have loved her and that she'd set me free
But it's not to be
If I can't love her
Let the world be done with me.
Alasdair Harvey's song, "If I Can't Love Her," is a deeply emotional ballad that reflects the inner turmoil of the character Beast from the popular Disney musical, Beauty and the Beast. The song is a soliloquy in which Beast bemoans the fact that his appearance and curse prevent him from experiencing true love and happiness. The lyrics are rich and vivid, expressing the character's pain and despair.
The opening lines of the song, "And in my twisted face, there's not the slightest trace of anything that even hints of kindness," immediately set the tone for the rest of the piece. The character's transformation into the beast has left him bitter and resentful, and incapable of expressing his emotions in a positive way. The later lines, "No beauty could move me, no goodness improve me," further emphasize this sense of hopelessness and despair.
Throughout the song, Beast expresses the belief that he is unworthy of love, and that his curse makes him a monster in the eyes of society. He laments that even if he were able to love someone deeply, his appearance and curse would inevitably prevent them from returning those feelings. The final lines, "If I can't love her, let the world be done with me," are a poignant and powerful expression of the character's longing for love and acceptance.
Overall, "If I Can't Love Her" is a moving and insightful window into the world of the character Beast. It offers a glimpse of the emotional turmoil that underlies his gruff exterior, and provides a powerful message about the importance of love, forgiveness, and acceptance.
Line by Line Meaning
And in my twisted face
There's not the slightest trace
Of anything that even hints of kindness
There is no hint of kindness in my distorted face, and I am aware of it.
And from my tortured shape
No comfort, no escape
I see, but deep within is utter blindness
Even though I am aware of my horrendous situation, I cannot get any comfort from it and so feel blind inside.
Hopeless
As my dream dies
As the time flies
Love a lost illusion
Helpless
Unforgiven
Cold and driven
To this sad conclusion
I feel hopeless as my dream fades away, time flies without any hope, and coldness drives me to the sad conclusion that love is just an illusion.
No beauty could move me
No goodness improve me
No power on earth, if I can't love her
No passion could reach me
No lesson could teach me
How I could have loved her and make her love me too
If I can't love her, then who?
I feel that beauty, goodness, power, and passion are all meaningless in my life without being able to love her. I feel that I cannot learn how to make her love me, and I cannot be saved even if I could.
Long ago I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking, I moved onward
I realize that I was careless and stupid, and I could have done many things differently, but I didn't because I was unthinking and just kept moving forward.
No pain could be deeper
No life could be cheaper
No point anymore, if I can't love her
No spirit could win me
No hope left within me
Hope I could have loved her and that she'd set me free
But it's not to be
If I can't love her
Let the world be done with me.
I feel deeply in pain as loveless life seems so cheap and meaningless to me. I do not believe that anyone or anything could lift me up from this long-standing hopelessness except for the possibility of loving her. I wish I could have loved her and hoped she could have set me free from this trap of lovelessness, but it was not meant to be. Therefore, I feel like the world should be done with me.
Contributed by Jackson A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Alan Vaytsman
The lyrics are wrong.
And in my twisted face
There's not the slightest trace
Of anything that even hints at kindness And from my tortured shape
No comfort, no escape
I see, but deep within is utter blindness Hopeless
As my dream dies
As the time flies
Love, a lost illusion
Helpless
Unforgiven
Cold and driven
To this sad conclusion
No beauty could move me
No goodness improve me
No power on earth
If I can't love her
No passion could reach me
No lesson could teach me
How I could have loved her
And make her love me too
If I can't love her, then who?
Long ago I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking, I moved onward No pain could be deeper
No life could be cheaper
No point anymore
If I can't love her
No spirit could win me
No hope left within me
Hope I could have loved her And that she'd set me free But it's not to be
If I can't love her
Let the world be done with me
pauswa1966
The best version out there! You can clearly understand the lyrics because of his excellent diction. Very moving and beautiful song.
The Rumor
I just listened to 'Evermore', the new song they wrote to replace this one in the live action movie, and while both are amazing, I have to admit I might prefer this one a bit more.
Dark Hearts
I don't cry from this. I just get massive goosebumps.
loyd sheryl
Just wonderful! Obviously, the main event here is the vocal solo. Incredible. However, the orchestration--especially the FRENCH HORN SOLOS!!!--is just exhilarating!
Louie Rue
I saw this live back in 1998 and there was hardly a dry eye in the place at the end of this song. Alasdair brought such physical emotion to this song that he got a standing ovation. Utterly beautiful. And in all the years since I have yet to come across another version that could beat this one. I guess it's true that the first one you see is the best 9 times out of 10. This recording of the song is fantastic but the actual live performance is just beyond amazing. Actually seeing him sing this song. Wow just wow !!
Iain Denham
God I wish I could have seen that performance
Alan Vaytsman
@Iain Denham there is a video of the performance on YouTube
Rebecca McKenzie
Alasdair Harvey has such a perfect voice - he's an amazing West End Beast, Raoul and Commander Khashoggi. I do have to question why he is not more well known though, considering he is one of the most accomplished leading men in British Musical Theatre.
G ME Haywood
Exactly! I had the greatest honour of seeing him twice in We Will Rock You. He is hands down my favourite Khashoggi (though I’m a bit bias because I played the character haha)! One of my most favourite moments of going to the theatre was during A Kind of Magic, he spent about 5 (long) seconds staring and pointing at me from the platform😂👏
Mtdough
I was Chip in this YEARS ago. Was the best experience of my life. I'm now 32.
Since this was the first West End musical I was in at 6, I have been into West End musicals since. Everyone says this was the best show I had been in. can't be more grateful. Also cant disagree.