Donovan came to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with a series of live performances on the television pop series, Ready Steady Go!. He first hit the charts in 1965 with his single "Catch the Wind", continuing on with a string of hits, most of them produced by Mickie Most. Donovan's 1966 Sunshine Superman marked not only a transition to the burgeoning psychedelic scene, but is also viewed as a formative album in its genre, inspiring countless contemporaries. His 1967 double album A Gift from a Flower to a Garden—the first major album released as a boxed set—completed the transition from beat poet folkster to hippie troubadour.
As a close friend of The Beatles, he traveled with them to India during their stay at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and taught them the "clawhammer" finger-picking style, which is featured on several tracks on their seminal 1968 double album The Beatles, better known as "The White Album."
The decline of Donovan's commercial popularity coincides roughly with his split from Most in 1969, as well as gradually lessened interest in psychedelics by artists and the record-buying public alike. With the advent of punk rock during the mid-'70s, Donovan, now viewed as a "nice boy" '60s relic, truly fell from favor. Music critics' tastes too had changed; Donovan's new product, while still quirky and experimental, earned little but scorn and derision. As the decades progressed, Donovan would record and perform only sporadically, often separated by several years.
Donovan's career went through a revival of sorts with the emergence of Britain's rave scene in the '90s. As a result, his most famous works were reissued, and once again viewed favorably by critics. With the release of the back-to-basics Rick Rubin-produced Sutras in 1996, Donovan's career settled into a comparatively steady stream of new releases, coupled with archival material and various reissues. He was inducted into the Rock and Hall of Fame in 2012.
Give It All Up
Donovan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Without your golden love
No treasure rich enough
To be without your love
No sorrow deeper than
To be away from you
No distance farther than
A night not spent with you
The light within your eyes
No star I gaze at
Brighter in these skies
No sadness deeper than
This longing for you
I'd give it all up
To be with you
This night of darkness
I lay upon my bed
All alone and lonely
Remembering words you said
No goal worth striving for
Without your golden smiles
Never again we'll part
No more the lonely miles
The lyrics of Donovan's song "Give It All Up" depict a love so strong that nothing in the world could compare to it. The singer claims that there is no gold, treasure, or diamond that he desires as much as he desires the love of his beloved. He laments that the sadness he feels from his longing for her is the deepest sorrow he has ever known and that no distance, even a night away from her, is too far to bear. The only thing he wants is to be with her and he would give up everything for it.
One of the most striking things about the lyrics is the way that Donovan uses comparisons to emphasize the depth of the singer's love. By saying that there is no diamond brighter than the light in his beloved's eyes, or no star brighter than she is, the singer conveys just how highly he thinks of her. He is also expressing the idea that her love is worth more to him than anything else in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
No gold worth digging for
The absence of your love renders the pursuit of wealth meaningless
Without your golden love
The love you provide is more valuable than gold
No treasure rich enough
No wealth or material possession can match the richness of your love
To be without your love
The idea of being separated from you is unbearable
No sorrow deeper than
There is no greater sadness than the feeling of being disconnected from you
To be away from you
The thought of being far from you is unpleasant
No distance farther than
Spending one night without you feels like an eternity
A night not spent with you
The loss of one night spent with you is too much to bear
No diamond brighter than
The light in your eyes shines more brilliantly than the brightest diamond
The light within your eyes
Your eyes radiate a light that illuminates all around you
No star I gaze at
No star in the sky shines brighter than the light in your eyes
Brighter in these skies
The light in your eyes shines more brightly than any star in the sky
No sadness deeper than
The longing I feel for you is the saddest feeling in the world
This longing for you
The yearning I have for you is overwhelming
I'd give it all up
I would sacrifice anything and everything to be with you
To be with you
Being together with you is the most important thing in the world to me
This night of darkness
I am experiencing a time of despair and sadness
I lay upon my bed
I am lying in my bed, feeling overwhelmed by my emotions
All alone and lonely
I am by myself and feel isolated and sad
Remembering words you said
I recall the things you said to me, and they bring me comfort
No goal worth striving for
The pursuit of any goal is meaningless without your love
Without your golden smiles
Your loving and supportive smile gives meaning to the pursuit of any goal
Never again we'll part
We will never be separated from each other again
No more the lonely miles
There will be no more distance between us to make us feel lonely
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: MICHAEL ANTHONY BENNETT, GREGORY ANTHONY ISAACS, HOPETON LINDO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Frédéric Cioni
Sutras is full of inspiring and uplifting songs
Art Stetson
Nobody said anything about this song for 2 years from April 2017...So, this is one of the many extraordinarily artful songs on this, one of Donovan's best, when a person is in a mood for deep-meaning and melodic acoustic guitar.
musicisbrilliant
So pure and wholesome. Donovan forever.
S Fender
I love the music of Donovan. His harmonica is beautiful too; we need a new Donovan album in 2021 or 2022 at least; that along with a new Kinks album, and we need more Bob Dylan too.
Cindy Kelly
I love Donovan and Sutras is indeed wonderful. :)
APauls
Donovan is so cool, he stuck to his path well :)
Liz Horwill
I honestly can't pick a favorite Donovan song. His voice mesmerizes me.
Laurie Smith
Magnificent song
Rosemary Dixon
Sutrus ia BEAUTIFUL album