Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. in Harlem, NYC, on 1 Ma… Read Full Bio ↴Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. in Harlem, NYC, on 1 March 1927; died 25 April 2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso, released in 1956, was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.

Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". Throughout his career, he was an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes.

Belafonte won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category and was the oldest living person to have received the honor.

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In The Name Of Love
Harry Belafonte Lyrics

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What burns and glows without flame?
What lives and grows without rain?
What brings a smile that lasts for a little while
That makes me cry without shame?

How can you please me then torture
And tease me and do it in the name of love?

Don't you know how to be nice?
You'd leave me without thinking twice
Your wall has an oven when you want a little lovin'
And you go from fire to ice

How can you please me then torture
And tease me and do it in the name of love?

I'm comin', I'm a goin', is it rainin' or snowin'?
I got no way of knowin' your mind

You make me rise and fall
You make me stumble and crawl
So baby, get with it, you might as well admit it
Don't love your daddy at all

Cause how can you please me then torture
And tease me and do it in the name of love?

You make me rise and fall
You make me stumble and crawl
So baby, get with it, you might as well admit it
Don't love your daddy at all

Cause how can you please me then torture

And tease me and do it in the name of love?
Do it in the name of love, do it in the name of love

Overall Meaning

In Harry Belafonte's song In The Name Of Love, the lyrics explore the confusion and conflicting emotions that can come with being in love. The first verse asks a series of rhetorical questions, comparing the contradictions of love to things that are impossible or nonsensical. The second verse confronts the object of the singer's affection, criticizing them for their inconsistency and emotional manipulation.

The chorus repeats the phrase "how can you please me then torture and tease me and do it in the name of love?" This line suggests that the person the singer is addressing is a mixed bag, capable of both kindness and cruelty, and that they either don't realize or don't care about the impact of their actions on the singer. The subsequent verses continue to describe the confusion and instability that the singer feels in their relationship.

Overall, the song seems to be a lament about the difficulty of navigating romantic relationships and the pain that can come with loving someone who doesn't reciprocate fully or consistently.

Line by Line Meaning

What burns and glows without flame?
What feeling can exist without any obvious cause or provocation?

What lives and grows without rain?
What relationship can persist and grow without the support and nourishment it needs to flourish?

What brings a smile that lasts for a little while That makes me cry without shame?
What type of love can provide fleeting moments of joy, but ultimately cause sadness and tears without remorse?

How can you please me then torture And tease me and do it in the name of love?
Why would you claim to love and care about me, but then hurt and manipulate me?

Don't you know how to be nice? You'd leave me without thinking twice Your wall has an oven when you want a little lovin' And you go from fire to ice
You talk a good game, but you're quick to abandon me and you have a hot-and-cold behavior that's confusing and hurtful.

I'm comin', I'm a goin', is it rainin' or snowin'? I got no way of knowin' your mind
You're sending mixed signals and it's frustrating not knowing where you stand or what you want.

So baby, get with it, you might as well admit it Don't love your daddy at all
It's time to face the truth that you don't actually love me and it's better to accept it than to continue pretending.

Cause how can you please me then torture And tease me and do it in the name of love?
How can you claim to care about me, only to hurt and manipulate me with your actions?

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Alannah Joy Currie, Christopher Hamilton Bell, John Roog, Joseph Martin Leeway, Matthew Thomas Arthur Seligman, Peter Dodd, Tom Bailey

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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