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.
High Your Love
Donovan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All for the love of leaving am I
All for the love of grieving am I
Looking for you in the longing of life
When all along you were here by my side
It's a high your
It's a high, it's a high your love
I was a drifting bound to the mast
Searching for you on the ocean of loss
And all along no ocean to cross
It's a high your
It's high, it's a high your love
All on the island she danced
Sleep of forgetfulness entranced
Gazing on new some distance star
Om-Shri Sai-Baba, so near, so far
It's a high your
It's high, it's a high your love
All for the love of grieving am I
All for the love of leaving am I
Looking for you in the longing of life
When all along you were here by my side
It's a high your
It's a high, it's a high your love
The song "High Your Love" by Donovan, from his album "Sutras," is a poetic reflection on the search for love and true connection in life. The lyrics describe a person who has been wandering, searching, and grieving for love, only to realize that it was right beside them all the while. The first verse acknowledges the pain of leaving and grieving, but also the longing that drives a person to seek love. The second verse describes the aimless drifting that can occur when one feels lost, yet finds, to their surprise, that they were never truly adrift at all. The final verse paints an image of a woman dancing in forgetfulness, yet also gazing at something faraway, perhaps symbolic of the human desire to find something more profound amidst the mundane.
The phrase "high your love" seems to suggest that love is something that elevates and inspires a person, a source of excitement and fulfillment even in difficult times. The song suggests that the true search for love is not out there, but within oneself and in the connections we already have in life. In the end, love may involve a letting go of our expectations and a recognition of the preciousness of what we already have.
Line by Line Meaning
All for the love of leaving am I
I am doing everything for the sake of leaving or departing because I am in love
All for the love of grieving am I
I am willingly undergoing emotional pain and suffering because of my love
Looking for you in the longing of life
In my quest for fulfillment and purpose in life I am searching for my love
When all along you were here by my side
I just realized that the one I am looking for has always been with me
It's a high your
The love that I have discovered is truly an elevated and joyful feeling
It's a high, it's a high your love
This love is incomparable and uniquely special
Far in the future or in the past
I was lost in time searching for my love
I was a drifting bound to the mast
I was aimlessly floating with no direction but bound to my love
Searching for you on the ocean of loss
I was looking for my love even in the midst of sorrow and pain
And all along no ocean to cross
I have discovered that there was no need for me to go through hardships to find my love
All on the island she danced
The love I have found is just like a beautiful dancer enchanting me in an isolated place
Sleep of forgetfulness entranced
I was made to forget all my worries and anxieties through my love
Gazing on new some distance star
I am looking up to a new and promising future with my love
Om-Shri Sai-Baba, so near, so far
I seek spiritual guidance to help me navigate my love journey
Contributed by Gabriel G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@edsonserratmoreira471
os anos se passam e passarão mas Donnovan estará sempre atual em suas canções maravilhosas e eternizadas em nossas memorias
@1234Krueger
I've been two times with Sathya Sai Baba. It changed my life much. 15 years I was single father of three wonderful sons. My wife disappeared with another man. It were 15 wonderful years till they went their own way. So much love, Sathya Sai Baba, so much love Donovan.
@RaymondHelfrich
LOVE!
It's a High, Your Love...
and
It's a Higher Love!
@pannapippi7177
Om Sai Ram :) Sai Baba Love :)
@dianeaustin4874
HIGHER LOVE --DONOVAN THE SCOTTISH BARD -HAIL NESSY!
@johnrussellherbert6035
I'd love to find clarification on that bit of Gaelic (?).