He has written songs for Sesame Street and The Weekly Reader, has starred in an Emmy Award-winning television show for children and has been featured regularly on The Learning Channel.
Polisar works with literacy groups, media specialists, reading teachers and Title I programs in the schools and has won a Special Library Recognition Award for his "ability to communicate with and excite children to read."
Polisar's song "All I Want Is You" is featured, re-recorded and with a guitar/harmonica combo, on the soundtrack for the 2007 Motion Picture "JUNO".
I Need You Like a Donut Needs a Hole
Barry Louis Polisar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like pianos need fingers, heart and soul.
We go together like peanuts in a shell,
I'm gonna hold you in my arms like water in a well.
I love you like flowers love the sun,
Like birds love to fly and kids like to run,
Like trees love leaves and leaves turn brown,
When we are together, side by side
It's like a roller coaster and a carousel ride
The clouds all lift and sing with the trees,
The oak leaves dance along with the breeze
The lyrics of "I Need You Like a Donut Needs a Hole" by Barry Louis Polisar is a love song that compares the inseparable nature of two things to the indomitable love between two individuals. The songwriter uses clever comparisons to stress the undeviating bond between himself and his beloved, painting vivid pictures of how they are connected like two peas in a pod. The song begins by offering a comparison between the relationship and a donut's shape, where the writer needs the other as a donut needs a hole. He then goes on to compare the connection to the importance of fingers to a piano, stressing that one necessarily complements the other.
Furthermore, Polisar's lyrical prowess further accentuates the complementary nature of the relationship by drawing on several other similes. The songstress draws on the mutual love that flowers and the sun share and the kids and the thrill of running to emphasize their interdependence. The song highlights how the duo is an inseparable force that is complete, like peanuts in a shell, completing each other's sentences, and enhancing each other's strengths. In all these comparisons and similes, the message is clear: the two individuals belong together and are incomplete without each other.
Finally, the songstress employs metaphors to describe the overwhelming joy, satisfaction, and contentment that come with being close to each other. When both individuals are together, the writer says it's like a roller coaster as they both ride the ups and downs of life together. The songstress of "I Need You Like a Donut Needs a Hole" draws from different slices of life and nature to describe the unbreakable connection between two people in love.
Line by Line Meaning
I Need You Like a donut needs a hole
I cannot live without you, just like a donut cannot exist without its center hole.
Like pianos need fingers, heart and soul.
I need you to complete me, just like the piano needs the fingers, heart, and soul of a skilled musician to create beautiful music.
We go together like peanuts in a shell,
We are meant to be together and fit perfectly like peanuts fitting inside their shells.
I'm gonna hold you in my arms like water in a well.
I long to hold you close to my heart, just like water is held inside a well that nourishes and sustains life.
I love you like flowers love the sun,
My love for you is boundless and essential, just like how flowers cannot live without the sun's warmth and energy.
Like birds love to fly and kids like to run,
My love for you is natural and instinctual, just like how birds love to fly and kids love to run and play.
Like trees love leaves and leaves turn brown,
My love for you endures even as things change, just like how trees love their leaves even as they fall and turn brown with the passing of time.
Like rabbits in the meadow like to hop around.
My love for you is lighthearted and joyful, just like how rabbits love to hop around and play in the meadow.
When we are together, side by side
When we are together, our love is strengthened and unshakeable.
It's like a roller coaster and a carousel ride
Being with you is an exciting and exhilarating experience, filled with ups and downs but always moving forward.
The clouds all lift and sing with the trees,
With you by my side, happiness and joy abound, and even the natural world seems to celebrate our love.
The oak leaves dance along with the breeze
Even the trees seem to dance with joy when we are together, as if they, too, can feel the love that we share.
Contributed by Aubrey W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.