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When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
When the garden flowers baby are dead, yes and
Your mind, your mind is so full of red
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
Your eyes, I say your eyes may look like his
Yeah, but in your head, baby, I'm afraid you don't know where it is
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
Tears are running down and down and down your breast
And your friends, baby they treat you like a guest
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
When the garden flowers baby are dead, yes and
Your mind, your mind is so full of red
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
Your eyes, I say your eyes may look like his
Yeah, but in your head, baby, I'm afraid you don't know where it is
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
Tears are running down and down and down your breast
And your friends, baby they treat you like a guest
Don't you want somebody to love, don't you
Need somebody to love, wouldn't you
Love somebody to love, you better
Find somebody to love
Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 02:58
"Somebody to Love" as written by Darby R. Slick
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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truths > lies (govt)
joy dies
garden dead (defoliants, bombing)
full of red (blood of the dead and wounded).
"Written by Great Society guitarist Darby Slick and first performed by that band, which included his then-sister-in-law Grace Slick on vocals, the song made little impact outside of the club circuit in the Bay Area."
I wonder what Darby Slick was going through when this song was written...
A man is going about his normal life just the way he was trained. Get a good education, a good job, and a good wife. Out of the blue, his wife wants a divorce; she met another man, and wants him to move to a hotel. This is a tragedy and his kids aren't even fazed by it. He turns to religion to seek the advice of the senior Rabbi, just like he was trained to do. The senior Rabbi is too busy and the junior Rabbi's can't give him any direction. He keeps trying and still can't see the senior Rabbi. He is up for tenure at his job and somebody is writing negative anonymous letters to the dean and he is being threatened by a student. Everything he has worked for is going down the toilet. His wife takes all of his money out of the bank. He and the wife's boyfriend are in 2 separate auto accidents on the same day; he lives, the boyfriend dies. The wife wants him to pay for her boyfriend’s funeral. He sees his hot neighbor sunbathing in the nude and invites himself over. She plays some 60’s rock and they smoke a joint. She is casual and happy and it is the only time in the movie that he doesn’t seem anxious or neurotic. He attends his son’s bah mitzvah in front of many people that know what is happening in his personal and professional life. His son got caught with a walkman / radio device at school at got it taken away. As a reward for his bah mitzvah, his son gets to meet with the senior Rabbi; The same Rabbi that the father has been dying to see. After supporting the Synagogue all those years, sending his kids to their private school and paying for the bah mitzvah, paying for his wife’s boyfriend’s funeral, he can’t get five minutes with the senior Rabbi. But his apathetic kid is going to waltz in there and roll his eyes. When the kid goes into the meeting the senior Rabbi returns his radio while Jefferson Airplane’s - Someone to Love is playing. The Rabbi repeats the first few sentences of the song - which is the meaning of the movie and the meaning of the song:
When the truth is found to be lies (He has done everything his parents, religion and society trained him to do and it was all for nothing. His family life is a joke, career could end, and his religion has no answers)
And all the joys within you dies (With great wisdom comes great sorrow, truth can be isolating and depressing. Like most people, he did what he was trained to do his whole life and pretended that he was happy chasing goals that were put in his mind by religious and social indoctrination and peer pressure)
Don't you want somebody to love (This is the realization of what life is about. This makes us happy. Money, career, social standing mean nothing; when we achieve a goal and realize that we are not happy, we just raise the bar and chase a new goal, wasting more of our life. Love is what makes us happy. Love should be our goal)
Don’t you NEED somebody to love (without love, man becomes bitter, angry and depressed)
You’d better find somebody to love (You are running out of time, we are all going to die, we just don’t know when. Don’t waste another day)
The movie ends with the man talking with his Dr. about his chest xrays. The Dr doesn’t want to discuss them on the phone; instead, he wants to see him immediately. The scene changes to his son being rushed out of school with the other kids trying to get into an underground shelter with a huge tornado in the background coming towards the school and the city.
When the truth is found to be lies
You know the joy within you dies
Don¹t you want somebody to love ?
Don¹t you want somebody to love ?
Wouldn¹t you love somebody to love ?
You better find someone to love
Find somebody to love
Find somebody to love
Find somebody to love
/When the dawn is rose they are dead,
Yes, and you're mine, you're so full of red/
Your eyes, I say your eyes may look like his,
Yeah, but in your head, baby,
I¹m afraid you don¹t know
Where it is.
Tears are running,
Running along down your breast
And your friends, baby,
They treat you lik a guest.
Grace talks about the song and it's meaning in her autobiography, "Somebody to Love". The song was written by Darby and is about a more grown up version of love... She says they were tired of all of the "Why don't you love me?" songs that were typical of love songs of the era.
The song means, if you're feeling down and out, and life is handing you a bunch of shit for whatever reason, find somebody to love... To Love in the human sense, not the sexual or romantic sense. To give love, rather than bemoaning not receiving love.
In her words:
"Rather than the loving you're whining about getting or not getting, a more satisfying state of heart might be the loving you're 'giving'. Suggesting that adhering to the old Puritan cliche, 'It's better to give than to receive', might actually make you a happier person. The idea of service and selflessness may sound like a tedious task reserved for bald monks, but the way Darby wrote the lyrics, altruism didn't seem like such a lofty and unattainable state. He gave the impression that giving could even be an enjoyable adventure."
- Steve
"Most of the cats that you meet on the streets speak of true love,
Most of the time they're sittin' and cryin' at home.
One of these days they know they gotta get goin'
Out of the door and down on the streets all alone."
First of all, the song was written by Darby Slick, Grace's brother-in-law, who was in the band Grace and her husband were in called Great Society, who originally performed the song before Jefferson Airplane.
Like many of the songs in 1966, it was basically just a boy-girl song, a bit more adult than I Want To Hold Your Hand, but basically the same.
But, like ANY song, it's open to interpretation by the listener. If you want to hear Vietnam in there, then, by all means, it's about Vietnam.
Enjoy your smoke.
and all the joys within you dies
don't you want somebody to love
don't you need somebody to love
wouldn't you love somebody to love
you better find somebody to love
trust me, only some have been as low as i have and can TRULY understand. no offense to anyone. anyone whos been there will tell u that, other wise theyre a fuckin clown and u should fucking kill them
its like asking a sniper his kill count. just dont do it. ha! dont beleive me? see what happens, thru one eye cuz ull be in the hospital with a punched out eye. it certainly wont be me who does it tou. itll be an actual sniper