Why Should I Love You
Kate Bush Lyrics


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This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Give it time

The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet

Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed

Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
The "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you





Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

Overall Meaning

In Kate Bush's song "Why Should I Love You?", she expresses her hesitation in loving someone. The opening lines of the chapter indicate that someone (likely someone she knows) is advising her to put her thoughts of this person out of her mind but to give it time. The rest of the song is a series of metaphors, where she describes various colors and letters (purple, gold, gray, L, O, V, E, etc.) and relates them to aspects of the person she's singing about. She asks why she should love this person when there are so many people in the world to choose from. There's just something about this person that she can't quite put her finger on.


As the song moves towards its conclusion, Bush draws a comparison between this person and Jesus, and asks if anyone has ever seen a picture of Jesus laughing, and if so, whether he had a beautiful smile that could heal. She then repeats the question of why she should love this person, and answers it with "The "E" of my eye, the eye in wonder, the eye that sees, the "I" that loves you." Here, she reveals that the reason she should love this person is because she loves them with her very being.


Overall, the song is about the struggle of identifying and admitting love. It's about the fear of jumping in too deep and getting hurt, but also recognizing that sometimes love is worth the risk.


Line by Line Meaning

This chapter says "Put it out of your mind" Give it time
Forget about it and wait for a while


The fine purple The purest gold The red of the Sacred Heart The gray of a ghost The "L" of the lips are open To the "O" of the host The "V" of the velvet
Describing the vivid colors of something


Of all of the people in the world Why should I love you? There's just something 'bout you There's just something 'bout you Of all the people in the world Why should I love you?
Questioning the reasons behind love for a particular person


Have you ever seen a picture Of Jesus laughing? Mmm, do you think He had a beautiful smile? A smile that healed
Wondering about the possibility of Jesus having a joyful smile that had healing powers


The "E" of my eye The eye in wonder The eye that sees The "I" that loves you
Referring to a person's affection through a play on words with the phrase 'apple of my eye'


Of all the people in the world Why should I love you?
Reiterating the question about the reasons for loving someone in contrast to so many other people in the world




Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: KATE BUSH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

StarSister

"Why Should I Love You"

This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Mmm, give it time....

The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet

Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed

Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you

Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?



blackgargamel

The finest purple
The purest gold
The red of the sacred heart
The grey of a ghost
The "l" of the lips are open
To the "o" of the host
The "v" of the velvet
The "e" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you



hobbes45

This chapter says
'Put it out of your mind'
Mmm, give it timeThe fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the sacred heart
The grey of a ghost
The L of the lips are open
To the O of the host
The V of the velvetOf all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
Of all of the people in the world
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughin'?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed



doll K

This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Give it time
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
The "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?



David Quijada Fernández

This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Mmm, give it time....

The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet

Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed

Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?

The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you

Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?



All comments from YouTube:

Millennial Falcon

Kate and Prince are quite possibly the most original artists of their era, hearing both of their styles blend so beautifully is something that can never be replicated.

Bryan

Kate Bush, Prince, and Lenny Henry... all born in 1958.

Virginia viola

The real magic of the era was that everyone was original..and as a result, we were spoilt for choice, really talented musicians, writers, poets and singers. Nowadays it’s just about image and sales..a literal conveyor belt of people who look the same, sound the same, sing the same songs about the same things, written by the same three writers. At least there’s YouTube I guess.

Ian Kirby

And Lenny Henry,!!

Louise Beck

Well said. This song is amazing.

surfnsunshinekat

YES!

1 More Replies...

Somalia Gullette

TWO of the greatest genius artists on the same track. You can really hear Prince's flavor in this track.
Rest In Power, Prince.

Paul Wilde

Chris, some people were saying that Lenny Henry doesn't feature on the song. He does. So what's your problem?

chris miller

@Paul Wilde "only seem to see what you want to." Classic projection..my misguided brother. 😞

BigWill2k

@mvellis it seems getting Prince in was a PR move gone wrong, because listening to the demo why on earth would you think "yeah i want some funky fresh Prince guitar and cheesy Christmas keyboards on this!" His monumental ego turned it into a Prince song featuring Kate Bush. I wish she had had the balls to tell him to do one.

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