Jimmy Webb is responsible for writing numerous popular and Top 10 hits sung by a disparate group of artists, including Glen Campbell ("Galveston"); Art Garfunkel ("All I Know"); Donna Summer and many others.
Webb's father was a Baptist minister and a former Marine. His mother died when he was a teenager. His most popular songs were all composed when he was between 19 and 21 years of age.
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century.
He is noted for having written songs that were hits in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and is the only person to receive Grammy Awards in all three categories: music, lyrics and orchestration. Webb has also written the music for the animated film The Last Unicorn.
Webb is also a performer of his own music, although his solo output has never matched the commercial success of recordings of his work by other performers.
He was elected to the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986.
All I Know
Jimmy Webb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You bruise me
We both bruise too easily
Too easily to let it show
I love you and that's all I know
All my plans
Have fallen through
Depend on you to help them grow
I love you and that's all I know
When the singer's gone
Let the song go on
But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast
But they pass too slow
I love you and that's all I know
When the singer's gone
Let the song go on
It's a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
They say in the darkest night, there's a light beyond
But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast
But they pass too slow
I love you and that's all I know
That's all I know
That's all I know
The lyrics to Jimmy Webb's song "All I Know" are about love and the fragility of human relationships. The first two lines of the song, "I bruise you, you bruise me, we both bruise too easily" suggest that the singer and the person they love are vulnerable to each other's actions and words. They both have the power to hurt each other, and they are aware of their own and each other's vulnerabilities. Despite this knowledge, they still love each other, and they are willing to take the risk of being hurt.
In the second verse, the singer admits that all their plans have fallen through without the help of the person they love. They depend on this person to help their plans grow and succeed. The singer realizes that they are not complete without the other person, and they need them in their life to achieve their goals. The chorus repeats the singer's declaration of love for the other person, and how that's all they know.
The final verse is a bittersweet acknowledgment of the temporary nature of life and human relationships. The singer admits that endings always come too fast and that they pass too slow. The ending of a relationship can be painful and slow to heal. However, the singer insists that they still love the other person, even as everything else passes away.
Line by Line Meaning
I bruise you
I harm you emotionally
You bruise me
You harm me emotionally
We both bruise too easily
Our emotions get hurt easily
Too easily to let it show
We don't express our emotions easily
I love you and that's all I know
Despite everything, I only know that I love you
All my plans
All my dreams and desires
Have fallen through
Have not been achieved
All my plans depend on you
All my desires and dreams are linked to you
Depend on you to help them grow
Your support is required for them to come true
When the singer's gone
When the music stops
Let the song go on
Let the memories and the feelings continue
But the ending always comes at last
But everything has an end
Endings always come too fast
Endings happen before we are ready
They come too fast
Endings happen before we are ready
But they pass too slow
But the pain of their memory lingers
I love you and that's all I know
Despite everything, I only know that I love you
When the singer's gone
When the music stops
Let the song go on
Let the memories and the feelings continue
It's a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
There is a thin line between despair and hope
They say in the darkest night, there's a light beyond
It is said that even in the darkest moments there is hope
That's all I know
Despite everything, I only know that I love you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: JIMMY WEBB
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@taracolleen2009
Jimmy Webb has been in my life since Camelot and Richard Harris maybe 1968 ?
I bought and since repurchased every cassette tape , DVD and as I remember , vinyl ?
Both Richard Harris singing, Glenn Campbell and then Jimmy , himself
There's something about consuming the amazing composer, singing their own songs :))
Everyone else was listening to Tommy James and the Shondells but my brain has a musical "old soul" ❤️❤️❤️
MaCArthur Park was genius. Especially for a teen to write
I feel Jimmy is a brilliant musical savant ..
Every word was/still is ... analyzed over and over on every brilliantsong that anyone sang of his ❤️
I just pre-order pre/ordered his new book and as soon as it's out ( Amazon ) will be devouring it ...
There is not one song(and there's no end ) that I don't ralate to somewhere in my life
I find his words still replay , in the soundtracks of my life ..
On my mind still in 2017
Oh I still adore Led Zepplin and Hozier type music ,but Jimmy plays still and always will 😘💋💋💋💋❤️
@kathnh6795
This is lovely. It's so nice to hear that Linda Ronstadt harmonize and in doing so, her beautiful voice and sense of timing actually made a song ten times better than it would have been without her. She is such an exceptional woman who was born with a voice of a.......I can't think of a comparison. She style is her's alone and like Judy Collins, she doesn't have any equal. She had just found out two years before this that she had Parkinson's and the way she's handled it has been a testament to her strength and dignity. She's just not a beautiful voice; she's a beautiful person.
@MarioGarcia-jq1oj
Perfectly stated.
@juliestevens0426
an angel...Linda Ronstadt has the voice of an angel.
@frankvaldez7398
Saw Jimmy a few years ago. Such an honor. I am buying tickets tomorrow, to see him again, in July, in San Juan Capistrano. California
@juneowensschlueter9459
A beautiful rendition of this song that allowed Linda to contribute her voice. I'm sad and happy at the same time. Sad this was her last song, but happy that it is so beautifully done. Songs can be formatted in so many ways and I love the way this one turned out so that Linda could sing it. Linda made the best of the time she had with her vocals. Thank you Jimmy. It's beautifully written. Glad I came across it to save it.
@billteaney1671
This is beautiful, and it is the one last gift to us from Linda. Linda Ronstadt retired from professional singing in 2009 due to her vocal struggles with early Parkinsons Disease. Jimmy personally requested this favor from Linda to sing this Duet with him, It was only through their long friendship that Linda agreed to sing this with her old friend Jimmy before fully losing her ability to sing professionally. It might be the last recording from Linda Ronstadt thanks to Jimmy Webb.
@AmyKaribian
Yes, and it is also true that it was Linda Ronstadt’s sister who Jimmy was devastatingly in love with in his late teens and about whom he wrote “MacGarther Park” in 1968.
@maryannegill
@@AmyKaribian sister-in-law
@martincarrillo2317
@@AmyKaribian actually, mcarthur park was written about Jimmy webb's relationship with Susie Horton, not Susie Ronstadt.
@mccritemusic
@@martincarrillo2317 Susie Horton married Linda's brother and became Susie Horton Ronstadt.