And I have the sense to recognize that
I don’t know how to let you go.

Sarah Mclachlan’s “Do What You Have To Do” is similar to The Police’s Every Breath You Take, in that it sounds like a love song, but it is really a song about something else entirely. In the case of the Police, the song is about a stalker. “Do What You Have To Do” is about a codependent relationship.

The narrator has a deep desire for her lover but she recognizes that there are aspects of it that appear unhealthy. Where there once was love, now she feels like she cannot exist without him/her. She feels like she exists only for this love. In her mind she knows this love is not healthy but she cannot physically separate. To “do what you have to do” could mean anything from leaving to enduring to committing suicide.

Mclachlan has a voice that sounds beautiful—so that if you accompany that with a slow piano almost any song might sound like a love song. Plus, she does those so well. The piano, plus the strings plus Sara’s voice creates a very moody environment. Vocally she is restrained. This is a good thing. Sometimes she can go a bit overboard on other songs with the runs, but here she delivers a great performance.

Do What You Have To Do Lyrics

What ravages of spirit
Conjured this tempestuous rage
Created you a monster
Broken by the rule of love
And fate has led you through it
You do what you have to do
And fate has led you through it
You do what you have to do

And I have the sense to recognize that
I don’t know how to let you go

Every moment marked
With apparitions of your soul
I’m ever swiftly moving
Trying to escape this desire
The yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
The yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do

And I have the sense to recognize that
I don’t know how to let you go
I don’t know how to let you go

A glowing ember
Burning hot
And burning slow
Deep within I’m shaken by the violence
Of existing for only you

I know I can’t be with you
I do what I have to do
I know I can’t be with you
I do what I have to do

And I have a sense to recognize but
I don’t know how to let you go
I don’t know how to let you go
(I don’t know how to let you go)

Songwriters: Sarah Mclachlan / Colleen Wolstenholme