All the Love
Kate Bush Lyrics

The first time I died
The first time they left me alone and I realized I had to face everything all by myself.

Was in the arms of good friends of mine.
The only people who couldn't bear to see me go and where I felt secure.

They kiss me with tears.
Saying good bye with tears because they love me and they wished we could love each other while alive.

They hadn't been near me for years.
They weren't present in my life not out of choice, but because of circumstances beyond their control.

Say, why do it now
Wondering why it took so long to show love, at the very end.

When I won't be around, I'm going out?
Feeling lonely and forgotten, knowing they're not going to be around anymore due to death.

Only tragedy allows the release
My tragic and sudden death allowed me to truly show all the love and grief that was pent-up inside.

Of love and grief never normally seen.
The despair was so intense that I had to let all my emotions show, an unusual sight compared to my daily life.

I didn't want to let them see me weep,
I didn't want to be vulnerable and I didn't want to implicate my friend group into popularizing sadness.

I didn't want to let them see me weak,
I didn't want them to lose respect for me, even in death.

But I know I have shown
I know that I let my emotions show, which is a strength in itself when you can't control the situation.

That I stand at the gates alone.
Realizing the inescapable fact that when it's time to die, you have to do it alone.

All the love, all the love,
Reflecting on all the love that I could have given and received, but didn't.

All the love we should have given.
Regretting both not giving and receiving enough love before it's too late.

All the love you could have given.
Encouraging the living to express love and show appreciation before the end comes.

The next time I dedicate
I promise myself to dedicate my life to my friends and engross myself in giving them what they need.

My life's work to the friends I make,
Prioritizing friends and the relationships I make over my life's purpose.

I give them what they want to hear.
Engaging with them on their terms to ensure I can continue to love them, even if it means only partially showing who I am.

They think I'm up to something weird
Recognizing that people misunderstand genuine emotions and deducing that expressing my real self may cost me their friendships.

And up rears the head of fear in me.
Realizing that the fear of not having love and friendship is a fear that needs to be overcome.

So now when they ring
Changing myself to be less vulnerable, less risky and protected, pushing them at bay and answering their calls through the machine.

I get my machine to let them in.
Letting them in, but still keeping distance and not truly immersing myself in the relationship.

Bye!
The same loved friends now ending every conversation with 'bye', but the meaning of it is never trivial.

We needed you
The friends vocally expressing they needed love long before death.

To love us too.
Wishing for a love that is never late, and not possible in that moment.

We wait for your move.
Exhausted and ill, we wait for a move that should have been made earlier in life.