The song was also recorded by Herman's Hermits, Humble Pie, The Greg Kihn Band, Nils Lofgren, Fleetwood Mac, Chilly and Graham Gouldman himself.
Gouldman wrote the song at the age of 19 while working by day in a gentlemen's outfitters near Salford Docks and playing by night with the semi-professional Manchester band the Mockingbirds. He said: "I was sleeping most of the time because I'd been gigging with the Mockingbirds the night before, and then during the day when I'd got any spare time I'd write in the shop. I used to shut up the shop at lunch time and sit in the back writing."
He said he was prompted to begin writing songs for the band out of frustration in finding new material. "We went down to Denmark Street and went round all the publishers trying to find a song . . . we didnโt get any songs that we liked or we werenโt given any songs period and the Beatles had started and I thought โwell, Iโm gonna really have a crack at song-writing.โ I had dabbled a bit, but they were really my inspiration and gave me and I think a lot of other people the courage to actually do it. We all wanted to be like the Beatles. I wrote two songs and the record company we were with turned down one of the songs. The song they turned down was 'For Your Love', which eventually found its way to the Yardbirds."
Gouldman's manager, Harvey Lisberg, was so impressed by the song he told Gouldman they should offer it to the Beatles. "I said, 'I think they're doing alright in the songwriting department, actually'," Gouldman recalled. Undeterred, Lisberg gave a demo of the song to publisher Ronnie Beck of Feldman's, who took it to the Hammersmith Odeon, where the Beatles were performing. By coincidence the Yardbirds were also performing on a Christmas show at the venue and Beck played the song to their manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, and the band.
In 1965 The Mockingbirds began a regular warm-up spot for BBC TVโs Top of the Pops, transmitted from Manchester. Gouldman recalled: "There was one strange moment when The Yardbirds appeared on the show doing 'For Your Love'. Everyone clamoured around them โ and there I was just part of an anonymous group. I felt strange that night, hearing them play my song."
Despite the success "For Your Love" gave The Yardbirds, it signaled the departure of guitarist Eric Clapton, who played on the track with strong reluctance. Dismayed with the group's shift from R&B to pop, Clapton left the Yardbirds to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Speaking with Songfacts in a 2010 interview, Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty stuck up for the song. He said: "'For Your Love' was an interesting song, it had an interesting chord sequence, very moody, very powerful. And the fact that it stopped in the middle and went into a different time signature, we liked that, that was interesting. Quite different, really, from all the bluesy stuff that we'd been playing up till then. But somehow we liked it. It was original and different."
The song was featured in the 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and in the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked.
For Your Love
The Yardbirds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For your love
(For your love)
I'd give you everything and more and that's for sure
(For your love)
I'd bring you diamond rings and things right to your door
(For your love)
I'd give you diamonds bright
There'll be days I will excite
They'll make you dream of me at night
For your love
For your love
For your love
For your love
For your love
I would give the stars above
For your love
For your love
I would give you all I could
For your love
For your love
(For your love)
I'd give the moon if it were mine to give
(For your love)
I'd give the stars and the sun for I live
(For your love)
To thrill you with delight
I'd give you diamonds bright
There'll be days I will excite
They'll make you dream of me at night
For your love
For your love
For your love
For your love
The Yardbirds's song For Your Love is a love song about the lengths someone would go to for the person they love. The lyrics constantly repeat the phrases "For your love" and "I'd give you everything and more," emphasizing the depth and intensity of the singer's passion. The verses describe the material possessions and gifts he would offer to his lover in order to show his love and make them happy. He would give them diamonds, stars, and the moon if he could, and he promises to thrill them with delight and be the object of their dreams at night. The chorus reinforces this commitment, repeating that he would do anything for their love, and the song ends with one final declaration of his devotion.
The use of material possessions as symbols of love and devotion has been a common trope in popular music for decades, but For Your Love takes it to an extreme. The lyrics of the song suggest that the singer is willing to give up anything and everything for their love, even the things that are typically beyond anyone's control or ownership (such as the moon and the stars). It's a universal theme that many people can relate to, appealing to anyone who has ever felt the all-encompassing power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
For your love
The singer is showing his love and dedication to their significant other.
I'd give you everything and more and that's for sure
The singer is willing to sacrifice everything to make their significant other happy.
I'd bring you diamond rings and things right to your door
The singer is willing to give the best material things to their significant other.
To thrill you with delight
The singer wants to bring joy and happiness to their significant other.
I'd give you diamonds bright
The singer is willing to give valuable things to show their love for their significant other.
There'll be days I will excite
The singer promises to keep the excitement and love alive in the relationship.
They'll make you dream of me at night
The singer wants to ensure that their significant other thinks of them often and even dreams of them.
I would give the stars above
The singer is willing to do anything, even impossible things, to show their love for their significant other.
I would give you all I could
The singer is willing to give their absolute all to their significant other.
I'd give the moon if it were mine to give
The singer is willing to give the most impossible things to their significant other.
I'd give the stars and the sun for I live
The singer is willing to give anything and everything because the love for their significant other is what gives their life meaning.
Lyrics ยฉ Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Graham Gouldman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vickikersey4377
Rest in piece Jeff Beck. You are a legend that is forever unforgettable.
@scottpeters5260
May you rest in peace Jeff Beck
Thank you for your incredible talent and personality.
@rossj1528
R.I.P Mr Beck
@billbowman3413
RIP Sir.
@cherokeeandchenowith7004
โ๏ธ
@AMXSShirt
I think a lot of us are reminiscing
@jmrodas9
Tried to dance this one today, October , 2021, and found out I still can do it despite my 75 years!
@LMDetorie
Keep it up man, I'm half your age but I can't recall a single bad time I've had while dancing, and I hope we never will!
@monicadanon5786
I belive u 'cause , I am 72 years old & can dance rock 'n roll ,regards from BA , Argentina ๐
@LMDetorie
@monica danon Keep it up girl!!! I play in a rock band and every year we rent a big flat field with a stage and get a bunch of bands and DJs and all of our friends together for a weekend and it's my idea of heaven! Cheers!