Lauryn Hill – Tell Him

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  General Comment:This is a song about 1 Corinthians 13 in the Bible.
  
  1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)
  
  Love
  1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
  
  4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
  
  8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
  
  13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
  

  Flag dawnchapon June 17, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:This is surely in my top 5 favorite songs, and it might just be one of the best songs ever period, seriously underrated. It gives me goosebumps everytime I listen to it!

  Flag rymert19on September 22, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:I absolutely agree with lkslatts
  
  that is exactly what think its about, its why i think that part of the bible is often read at weddings, to remind us of what love should be about. any kind of love.

  Flag AlohaRoseon April 07, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:this is my favourite lauryn hill song along with 'turn your lights down low'...and yes, I believe she's talking TO God but not about him/her...She's praying to god to give her strength with her unrequited love and for God to let this man know somehow that she loves him and to give her a chance because she can't go on much longer without him

  Flag my_sharonaon December 25, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:I love this song and the first time i heard it the vocal arrangement really struck me. Later on i found out that the lyrics are from 1 Corinthians 13 in the New Testament of the Bible. I took a a Bible as Lit class and had to memorize that chapter and realized that it's this exact song. Here are some parts of the song with parts directly from the bible:
  
  LAURYN: "let me be patient, let me be kind
  make me unselfish without being blind
  though i may suffer I'll envy it not
  and endure what comes"
  CORINTHIANS IN THE BIBLE: "Charity suffereth long [meaning that love is patient], and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up"
  
  LAURYN: "Now I may have faith to make mountains fall
  But if I lack love then I am nothin' at all
  I can give away everything I possess
  But left without love then I have no happiness"
  CORINTHIANS: "though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
  
  LAURYN: "Now I may have wisdom and knowledge on Earth
  But if I speak wrong then what is it worth?
  See what we now know is nothing compared
  to the love that was shown when our lives were spared"
  CORINTHIANS: "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth" [which means to speak wrong doesn't do anything good]
  
  "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." [which means that knowledge on earth will fade away...]
  
  
  "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." [meaning what we know now isn't complete in comparison to the love that is shown to us]
  
  
  The song is surely influenced by religion, but i think it also transcends into a deeper and spiritual kind of love, something that's so profoundly unconditional. i adore this song.

  Flag islandirieon August 21, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:i feel that this song is about making an appeal to God to make sure the man she's in love with knows it and to bless the love.

  Flag raburnson March 13, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:oh yea umm lyric correction...
  
  I'll never be jealous
  I'll never be too PROUD ..
  
  instead of
  I'll never be jealous
  and i wont be too KIND..
  
  
  and another one is..
  
  Now I may have wisdom and knowledge on Earth
  But if I speak BOLD then what is it worth? (thats the right lyrics)

  Flag EcHOinMYeARon May 07, 2003   Link

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    If i Speak ''Warm''

    Flag zimba13on March 22, 2012  
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  General Comment:i highly doubt its talking about god, i think its referring that there is love beyond what we know(to religious people)... She just means remember what has happened for us... but im pretty sure(besides that segment) that this song about someone she loves very much.

  Flag EcHOinMYeARon May 07, 2003   Link

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  General Comment:I don't know if the song is ABOUT God or not, but that's certainly what she's talking about there. The entire song is a Bible reference, all being taken from Corinthians. To me, this song is a reminder of what love truly should be whether you're talking about the love of God or human love.

  Flag lkslattson September 02, 2002   Link

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  General Comment:hey, is it just me, or does this song sound like it's about god? look at this line...
  
  "See what we now know is nothing compared
  to the love that was shown when our lives were spared
  and tell him..."
  
  that sounds like when jesus was cruxified. i dont know the history of this song, i just found it while downloading random songs by Lauryn Hill off of Kazaa. is it meant to be for/about god/jesus? or is it just me reading into it?

  Flag Raul Joseon September 01, 2002   Link

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