After signing with Hollywood Records, Lovato released their pop rock debut album, Don't Forget (2008), which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its follow-up, Here We Go Again (2009), debuted at number one in the U.S., while its title track reached number 15 on the Hot 100. Lovato's third studio album, Unbroken (2011), experimented with pop and R&B and spawned the U.S. platinum-certified single "Skyscraper". They released her eponymous fourth album in 2013, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and contained the top-ten international hit "Heart Attack". Lovato's fifth and sixth albums, Confident (2015) and Tell Me You Love Me (2017), infused soul and mature themes; they earned a Grammy Award nomination for Confident, while "Sorry Not Sorry", the lead single from Tell Me You Love Me, became her highest-charting single in the U.S., reaching number six. After a hiatus, Lovato released their seventh album, Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over (2021), which reached number two on the Billboard 200.
On television, Lovato has starred as the titular character on the sitcom Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011), served as a judge on the music competition series The X Factor USA for its second and third seasons, and appeared as a recurring character on the musical comedy Glee (2013–2014) and the sitcom Will & Grace (2020). They also starred in the television drama film Princess Protection Program (2009), the animated comedy film Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and the musical comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020).
Lovato has sold over 24 million records in the United States[6] and has also received numerous accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, a Guinness World Record, and was included on the Time 100 annual list in 2017. An activist for several social causes, Lovato's struggles with an eating disorder and substance abuse have received considerable media attention, in response to which they published the self-help memoir Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year (2013) and released the documentaries Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017) and Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021). In 2021, Lovato had come out as nonbionary.
For the Love of a Daughter
Demi Lovato Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With my back to the door
All I could hear
Was the family war
Your selfish hands
Always expecting more
Am I your child?
Or jut a charity award?
You have a hollowed out heart but it's heavy in your chest
I tried so hard to fight it but it's hopeless
Hopeless
You're hopeless
Oh father, please father
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Oh father, please father
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
It's been five years
Since we've spoken last
And you can't take back
What we never had
Oh, I can be manipulated only so many times
Before even "I Love You"
Starts to sound like a lie
You have a hollowed out heart but it's heavy in your chest
I tried so hard to fight it but it's hopeless
Hopeless
You're hopeless
Oh father, please father
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Oh father, please father
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
Don't you remember I'm your baby girl?
How could you push me our of your world?
Lied to your flesh and your blood
Put your hands on the ones that you swore you loved
Don't you remember I'm your baby girl?
How could you throw me right out of your world?
So young when the pain had begun
Now forever afraid of being loved
Oh father
Please father
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Oh father
Please father
Oh father
Please father
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
For the love of a daughter
The lyrics of Demi Lovato's "For the Love of a Daughter" depict a painful experience of a daughter who grew up in a broken family. The first verse shows the daughter's memory of her family's conflict at a young age. She wonders if she is merely an obligation to her father, who always demands more from her. She questions her value as his child and feels like a charity award. In the second verse, the daughter describes the five years of silence between her and her father. She acknowledges the fact that she can only take so much manipulation from him before his words become meaningless. The chorus shows the daughter's plea to her father, asking him to put the bottle down for the love of their relationship. The bridge of the song expresses the daughter's anger towards her father. She reminds him of how he lied to her, and questions how he could push her out of his world.
Line by Line Meaning
Four years old
At a very young age
With my back to the door
Turning a blind eye to the reality of the situation
All I could hear
Only being able to sense the hostility around
Was the family war
The continuous fights in the family
Your selfish hands
Self-centered actions
Always expecting more
Constantly requiring more from others
Am I your child?
Questioning the bond and relationship between a parent and their child
Or just a charity award?
Feeling like a burden or someone to be pitied
You have a hollowed out heart but it's heavy in your chest
Having a heart filled with darkness and despair
I tried so hard to fight it but it's hopeless
Attempting to overcome the pain and trauma, but ultimately feeling defeated
Oh father, please father
A desperate plea for understanding and acknowledgement
I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go
Desiring to distance oneself from the toxic relationship, but feeling emotionally tethered to it
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
A plea to stop self-destructive behavior for the sake of familial love
It's been five years
A significant amount of time has passed
Since we've spoken last
No communication has occurred
And you can't take back
Past actions and words can't be undone
What we never had
A nonexistent relationship
Oh, I can be manipulated only so many times
Being taken advantage of, but eventually becoming wise to the tactic
Before even "I Love You"
Empty words and phrases
Starts to sound like a lie
Losing faith in the genuineness of expressions of affection
Don't you remember I'm your baby girl?
Requesting recognition of familial connection
How could you push me our of your world?
Feeling excluded and unloved
Lied to your flesh and your blood
Betraying family members who should have been treated with love and respect
Put your hands on the ones that you swore you loved
Causing physical harm to loved ones
So young when the pain had begun
Experiencing emotional trauma at a young age
Now forever afraid of being loved
Trouble feeling and accepting love due to past hurt
Oh father
Addressing the source of trauma
Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter
The importance of stopping self-destructive behavior for the sake of family love
For the love of a daughter
The powerful influence of familial love, even amidst past trauma and hurt
Lyrics © Royalty Network, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: WILLIAM BECKETT, DEMITRIA LOVATO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Angela Butler Griffin
To all those people being bullied
To all those people who have lost a loved one
To all those people who have lost a pet
To all those people being abused
To all those people going through depression
To all those people with anxiety
To all those people in poverty
To all those people going through a breakup
To all those people having a bad day
To all those people with insecurities
To all those people just having a hard time,
Don't forget
Your weakness today
Is your strength tomorrow
It always gets better
Your loved ones will remain in your hearts
You always have the memories
Love yourself
Stand up for yourself
Money can't buy happiness
Those lovers
Just weren't right
Don't abuse yourself
Don't abuse others
Kill them with kindness
Treat people with kindness
We've all had these times
There will always be a hole in our chests
But
Let's all be each others' strength
weather you're
Black
White
LGBTQ+
Christian
Atheist
Etc
Love yourself
Love others
Don't cut
Don't kill
Don't criticize
Don't beg
Don't do drugs
Don't starve yourself
Don't starve others
We aren't supposed to do any of that
Just keep your strength
Keep your faith
Don't change because you were told to
Be yourself
Holly Clementine
My friend recommended this song to me, because of my family’s history.
I truly didn’t expect to get so emotional.
I saw my father’s drinking & drug use when I was a kid. Hell...I saw majority of my family abuse substances.
& I SWORE to myself I would never go down that road.
Yet I wound up being an addict for 4 years.
But...I’m now almost 3 years sober.
BLAKE JENNER IS AN ABUSER
shoutout to the girls who’s father broke their hearts before any teenage boys ever could
x_CallMeAmber_x
My cheated 3 times then lied also drinks and lies about not bringing any in when we smell and hes always arguing and never there for me
3peoplestuff
Mine
Shantiz
@x_CallMeAmber_x my dad wasnt in my life
Lilly Marmoljeo
My dad died when i was one😄😃😄😃
Cindy Stokes
@Lilly Marmoljeo my brother marty died when he was 1
Gone.Girl7
"Don't you remeber I'm your baby girl?" I can't stop crying to this part
Gone.Girl7
Margaret HudgensIkr
Shadow Katsuki Bakugo
I wonder if my dad remembers I'm his little baby girl from all those years ago. It hurts when I wonder if I'm a charity award, like the song says, or if I'm his daughter to him.
Gone.Girl7
@Shadow Katsuki Bakugo bruh that's deep