Don't Take Your Love from Me
Lena Horne Artie Shaw and His Orchestra Lyrics
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Tear a petal from the rose and the rose weeps too
Take your heart away from mine and mine will surely break
My life is yours to take, so please keep the spark awake
Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly?
Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?
All this, your heart won't let you do
Don't take your love from me
All this, your heart won't let you do
This is what I beg of you
Don't take your love from me
Don't take your love from me
The lyrics of "Don't Take Your Love From Me" express a plea to a lover to stay committed and not break the heart of the singer. The imagery is fittingly dramatic, as if the whole universe is collapsing due to the potential loss of this one relationship. The image of tearing a star from the sky and turning it blue underscores the idea that something that was once perfect and shining can be diminished and brought down to earth with a single act, just like a rose losing its petals. The singer expresses the pain of separation and the feeling that their life is meaningless without their lover's love.
The lyrics ask a series of rhetorical questions that highlight the depth of the singer's neediness and the impossibility of being without the love they are requesting. The singer asks if the lover would take away the wings of birds, or reduce the ocean to a mere whisper, to emphasize the futility and cruelty of the alternative. The final plea, "Don't take your love from me," is repeated as a chorus, further emphasizing the central message of the song - the importance of love and the devastation that can accompany its loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Tear a star from out the sky and the sky feels blue
Just as removing a star from the sky causes it to lose its beauty, taking away your love from me makes my life dull and colorless.
Tear a petal from the rose and the rose weeps too
Like a rose losing its charm and beauty without its petals, I would be incomplete and unhappy without your love.
Take your heart away from mine and mine will surely break
If you were to remove your love and affection from my life, my heart would shatter into a thousand pieces.
My life is yours to take, so please keep the spark awake
I have given you complete control over my life and heart, and I ask you to keep our love alive and passionate.
Would you take the wings from birds so that they can't fly?
Just as it is cruel to take away a bird's ability to fly, it would be cruel to take away my ability to love and be loved by you.
Would you take the ocean's roar and leave just a sigh?
To deprive the ocean of its mighty roar and movement, leaving only a small, melancholy sigh, would be a tragedy, much like taking away the love and passion between us.
All this, your heart won't let you do
Despite any challenges or struggles we may face, I believe that your heart won't allow you to take your love away from me.
This is what I beg of you
I implore and plead with you to never take your love from me.
Don't take your love from me
The refrain of the song; a plea to the person the song is directed towards to not take their love away.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HENRY NEMO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@swingman5635
A voice like velvet....❤️
@Telcom100
Good background information on this marvelous recording, Professor.
@uni-verse5807
God. How has the world gone from this to absolute chaos? I'll never know.
@scotnick59
Lena herself didn't care for her own singing during this period. I cannot for the life of figure that one out
@jayyoung4534
Had Horne continued in this musical format, we might have heard more of a commercial Lena Horne, and she'd have been better known by the public. Instead, Horne's recordings weren't that much a commercial attraction. But she was more a visual stylist in her singing career. Anyone?
@scotnick59
Very well-daid
@nelsoncordeiro1007
Carl Stalling used this song in "Hare Splitter", Over the title cards☺️
@uni-verse5807
Singing begins 1:36
@jayyoung4534
Interesting. Life's full of twists and turns. For example, Shaw was once married to Lana Turner, who later in her life married Steve Crane, owner of the Luau in Beverly Hills, where Horne was the target of a racist rant as she dined out that evening with her husband, Lennie Hayton, musical director for MGM.
@xfhghe
In addition, Lennie Hayton wrote many arrangements for including Dancing in the Dark and Stardust. Shaw wrote this arrangement though.