And if I say to you tomorrow
Take my hand child come with me.
It's to a castle I will take you
Where what's to be they say will be.

[Chorus]
Catch the wind see us spin
Sail away leave today
Way up high in the sky.
But the wind won't blow
You really shouldn't go
It only goes to show
That you will be mine
By takin' our time. Ooh!

And if you say to me tomorrow
Oh what fun it all would be,
Then what's to stop us, pretty baby,
But what is and what should never be.

[Chorus]

So if you wake up with the sunrise,
And all your dreams are still as new,
And happiness is what you need so bad,
Girl, the answer lies with you, yeah.

[Chorus]

Hey, oh
Oh the wind won't blow and we really shouldn't go
And it only goes to show-ow-ow.
Catch the wind, we're gonna see it spin
We're gonna sail, little girl
Do do do, bop bop a do-oh
My my my my my my yeah
Everybody I know seems to know me well
But does anybody know I'm gonna move like hell
But they're never gonna know 'cause I move like hell.
(pick one...heh)



Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 04:39

"What Is and What Should Never Be" as written by James Patrick (jimmy)/plant Page

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


What Is and What Should Never Be song meanings
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59 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:just a little bit of what im thinkin
    But What is and What should never be.
    the word 'what' in this sentence becomes the focus of the sentence, making 'what' more than just a word of mystery. its related to the story. 'What' is whats happening between the two of them. its the reality of the fact that there is chemistry. but the chemistry (what) is there, and the the chemistry (what) should not be there. the relationship is a paradox to the world surrounding them.
    Flag rockpoeton May 03, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Its not as deep as all that.... Plant was way into his wife's sister... he was dating both of them and married Maureen because he got her pregnant.... its about the sister and forbidden love...
    Flag Jedzeppelinon June 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:I think it's about paedophily. Being told from the maniac point of view. He refers to her as a child in the beginning, and then ask her to go to a castle with him (do you want candy?), where taking enough time he will make happen things shouldnt' happen. For istance:

    - You really shouldn't go,

    This really sounds like "hasn't your mum teached you that you shouldn't trust strangers?"

    - It only goes to show
    That you will be mine
    By takin' our time. Ooh!

    It feels like he wants to take advantage of her naivety to make her satisfy him. And then, in the end:

    - Catch the wind, we're gonna see it spin
    we're gonna...sail, little girl

    The suspension imply that he was going to say something else, but then he corrected himself.

    - Everybody I know seems to know me well
    but does anybody know I'm gonna move like hell

    Paedophile often are unexpected people.
    Well, my two cents. Sorry for the bad english.
    Flag aaauuuon May 24, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Everybody can take their own meaning from this but the truth is this was a song for Plant's first love, Shirley, whose sister (Maureen) he would later marry.

    Basically the song is about him wanting her, to take her to a "happy place" but he knows her desire doesn't match his so it's not the right time.

    Plant never gave up on this desire and eventually had a child with her.
    Flag gradxon February 02, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:my thoughts..

    the song is about a young girl's deep, dark (sexual?) fantasies -subconscious desires that express themselves in dreams- & a man that wishes he could make her dreams come true, but he knows "what [it] is" & "what [it] should never be"

    *it in this instance referring to the Lolita-like relationship the two yearn for but know they cannot have due to social ramifications and established ideologies concerning relationships between older men and young girls -none of which are particularly positive..

    or perhaps not having to do with age at all, just forbidden fruit as someone commented before.
    Flag LZwingsKSUon February 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think there's a connection between this song and "That's the Way".

    "That's the way it ought to be" and "what is and what should never be". Both have a theme of something that is forbidden or frowned upon by society.

    I tend to go with the idea that this is a gay song even though there's nothing more to that then the "should never be", forbidden love thing. But when you put it together with "That's the Way", which is definitely sung buy a guy to a guy, it fits. Also, there's the suggestion that one day things may be different: "Where what's to be they say will be".

    I have this idea that Robert Plant idealized relationships with women as something good or what he should aim for, but that inside he was gay. I guess that's from his mannerisms (gay) as people have noticed, but more importantly from his lyrics. It's in "All of my love" (his is the force that lies within), "Going to California"(trying to find a woman that never was born), "Royal Orleans" (sex with queens or trannies), "Sick again" (sex with "L.A. queens"). There's a lot more.

    "Goin to California" especially has a fatalistic, tragic sense that trying to make it with a woman can never work out, but he's going to keep trying anyway to get "where the path lays straight and high".
    Flag bigmike7on September 28, 2009   Link
  • -1
    My Interpretation:I have to say that zepfan4ever may have the closest interpretation according to the original composer of this song. However, some lyrics go even deeper than intended by the original author as if they were unknowingly being inspired by the divine Spirit from where comes the true meaning of the lyrics. I feel that this may be the case for this song.

    The Lord (divine Prince) is Coming for His Betrothed.

    Yep, God Almighty, Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom is coming for His betrothed and these lyrics seem to fit perfectly with that interpretation.

    “And if I say to you tomorrow. Take my hand, child, come with me.
    It's to a castle I will take you, where what's to be, they say will be.”

    The child is His bride-to-be who currently dwells in the lower sphere on this earth. He, being Lord God and a Prince dwells in a castle in the heavenly places where all that is to be they (the Godhead) say will be.

    “Catch the wind, see us spin, sail away, leave today, way up high in the sky.”

    At an appointed time in the future He (the Prince and Lord God) will come and take His betrothed as they catch the wind, spin together and sail away way up high into the Lord’s heavenly abode.

    ”But the wind won't blow, you really shouldn't go, it only goes to show.”

    But because it’s not the right time the wind wont blow so He cannot come to get her even though they both desire to be together. It’s not the appointed time for her to go and for Him to take possession of her.

    ”That you will be mine, by takin' our time.”

    They both have to wait and do the necessary amount of time before He can actually take possession of her. The time is also needed for the betrothed to make herself ready and for their relationship to further grow and develop in the Spirit.

    “And if you say to me tomorrow, oh what fun it all would be.
    Then what's to stop us, pretty baby.”

    Here the Bridegroom says to His betrothed “And if you” (the betrothed) “say to me” (the Bridegroom) that it would be a lot of fun if He came to get her now. And if this were to happen what could stop them from doing so? He then answers that question by stating the title of the song:

    “But What Is And What Should Never Be.”

    “So if you wake up with the sunrise, and all your dreams are still as new”

    So the betrothed awakens and her dreams of being with her Prince are still like new dreams that have not yet materialized.

    ”And happiness is what you need so bad.”

    As a result of dreams still not materialized she has trouble being happy

    “girl, the answer lies with you.”

    She has the solution to her unhappiness. She can take comfort knowing that in time they will definitely be together

    ”Everybody I know seems to know me well…”

    Everybody who knows the Lord seem to know Him well

    ”… but they're never gonna know that I move like hell.”

    But none of them know that when He returns to get His betrothed He’s gonna move and shake things up like hell.

    The bride is not the Church, as many Christians believe. The bride is an individual who is raised up just prior to the end of this current age, an individual who is redeemed from the earth by the sacrifice of the Bridegroom.
    Flag ElectricChurchon August 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is one of many Led Zeppelin songs that just tugs at me for some reason. Maybe it's he wonderful vocals or the soothing verses, and then there's the powerful chorus.

    But I think I really like this song because of the lyrics.....ooo those magical lyrics. They are so dreamy. This is what I think they mean:


    First of all, it's not your average love song. But, I wouldn't say it's an affair song, either. It's sort of like a daydream. Dreaming after a girl you would like to takes some place and be with. When I listen to this song, I wish that girl was me......
    Flag ariel518on May 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Hey hoo...
    Flag xlr51on December 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I actually always kind of thought this about the song but I just had a recent time in my life that kind of confirms it to me. I've always seen it as a man and a woman who have an amazing time together and start to think "Lets run away together" or "let's get married" or something along those lines. However they start to realize that if they were to try to extend something that was so amazing it might corrupt it (kind of like a sequel to a movie that really doesn't need one). Hence what is and what should never be. What is is the amazing time they had and what should never be is how if they did try to draw it out they would look back and their would be bad memories along with the good.
    Flag Themonkinatoron October 17, 2008   Link

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