It makes no difference where I turn
I can't get over you and the flame still burns
It makes no difference, night or day
The shadow never seems to fade away

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Now there's no love
As true as the love
That dies untold
But the clouds never hung so low before

It makes no difference how far I go
Like a scar the hurt will always show
It makes no difference who I meet
They're just a face in the crowd
On a dead-end street
And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

These old love letters
Well, I just can't keep
Cause like the gambler says
Read 'em and weep
And the dawn don't rescue me no more

Without your love I'm nothing at all
Like an empty hall it's a lonely fall
Since you've gone it's a losing battle
Stampeding cattle
They rattle the walls

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Well, I love you so much
It's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I never felt so alone before



Lyrics submitted by airforbes1

Track duration: 06:33

"It Makes No Difference" as written by Robbie Robertson

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


It Makes No Difference song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:"it makes no difference who I meet
    they're just a face in the crowd on a dead end street.
    and the sun don't shine any more.
    and the rains fall down on my door."
    Can you not relate? The person the protagonist is in love with is the new standard to which all of humanity is measured. No one they meet will ever live up to the love they felt for this one person. They know love. They know how to give love. They know the love they recieved and are so overwhelmed by that love that they know they could never experience that with another. Even though the sun shines in reality every day all they ever know is rain.
    "it makes no difference" when taken out of context with the line it's sung is a phrase of concession. The singer has given up. It's a sad line. It makes me think that the singer is one step away from ending it all. There is nothing else left.
    Rick's vocals are so amazing. The raw rasp in his voice shows the true loneliness he's experiencing. Even the key itself makes his voice strain and show us the pain he is in. pure desparation. Saddest song I've ever heard. It's almost a suicide note in and of itself.
    Flag 2beats4on February 08, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Such a sad song. At one point in my life this song could easily describe my first relationship. I just couldn't get over it (16 years almost). Finally after about a 10 year absence we reconnected and have since transformed old feelings into a life-long friendship. Because I was so young at the start, the relationship was never, ahem, consummated (for lack of a better word) and due to distance and circumstance it likely never will be. But the good thing in all this is that now this satisfies me b/c the friendship and life-long connection transcends physical longing and I am finally validated b/c it is clear that he feels just as strongly as I felt all these years.

    But I also know how it feels to be on the flip side of such a situation now. I've been seeing someone who's been hung up on an ex for years and now this song makes me sad in a different way. It's almost like what's the point? He'll never be able to let another in because of this love he yearns for and cannot have. But, you can't help who you love.

    I wonder if there's any songs written about someone who will never have their love returned because they are living the sentiment expressed in this song?
    Flag xxRISKxxon January 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:this is one of the greatist songs written and rick danko's vocal breaks your heart. this song really means alot to me about a relationship along time ago in my life that still affects me
    Flag burritobroon December 05, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:"Now there's no love
    As true as the love
    That dies untold"
    This is quite possibly the most profound statement of love in this song or in any. Seeing as most songs are about love and this song is one of the best, this could easily be interpreted as the most profound lyric ever written.
    It reveals a truth that Jackson Browne was trying to convey in many of his songs, and was able to grasp in some ways.
    I once heard Stephan Jenkins say in a song:
    "I want you to love me
    Like you did
    Before you knew me"

    The overarching feeling in that song and the lyrics in this one is that 'true' love in life never lives up to expectations. When a love (a relationship may be a more direct word) dies untold, the future of that love exists only as it was created in the imagination of the unrequited lover. And this is the most perfect love there is. This is the love we dream about as children. This is the love we here stories about and aspire to have one day. This is the construct of the ideal love in each and every one of us; a psychological manifestation of the hole in our hearts that wants to be completely filled and once we can fill that hole with our soul mate, everything else in life will fall into place.

    This is my humble interpretation of the lyrics.
    Flag Event_Horizonon September 26, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:the meaning is either an unrequited love or a lost love, but either way i want it playing when i eat a bullet or they can play it and Danny Boy on the way to bury me. on the way back, how about "giving it up for your love", Delbert McClinton
    Flag mfwic47on July 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yeah i also agree robbie's guitar playing stands out here, which it doesnt usually on the majority of the band's songs.
    Flag thirsty_thursdayon November 08, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Look up Ricks solo performance on youtube in japan Circa 1997. It kills me for so many reasons but its its own version.
    Flag CaseyWildroseon April 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:amazing tune about a real depressed guy who wants his girl back so bad and is singing about how bad he does god bless rick for writing and singing this classic
    Flag joe walsh ruleson August 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Also I should note that the end of this song is one of the few times where Robbie's playing sounds really really good. Most of the time his playing doesn't really stand out, but it sure does here.
    Flag TheDuelliston July 28, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree that neither Rick nor Richard sound their best on The Last Waltz, but Rick sounds incredible on the studio version. I have heard that Robbie often took credit for writing songs that he didn't actually write. Either way, this is a beautiful song about losing someone and knowing that you'll never see them again, but you still can't get over them and move on with your life.
    Flag TheDuelliston July 28, 2007   Link

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