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.
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.