Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need/
I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed.
“The Rose” by Bette Midler is a beautiful song written by Amanda Mcbroom. The lyrics are especially good. This song gets over-looked. Is it because we hear it on the radio too often? Is it because it is soft-rock? (I maintain that soft rock does not get its due as “serious” music for whatever reason.) Regardless this is beautifully sung by Midler, and a great song.
So, what is The Rose and what is McBroom trying to tell us? Midler starts off by telling us how some people can wrongly view love: as a hunger that needs or a razor that cuts. That isn’t love. Love is within us and is the ultimate culmination of our beings: like a seed become a flower, we grow Love.
In the final verse Midler talks about how the winter can challenge the seed. However, we know that with a little help from the sun, the seed will grow to become the rose. Similarly, with a little perseverance on our end, we can survive the tough times and spring will be right around the corner and we will blossom into a rose.
It is a message of hope in three verses with no bridge. Not many pop and rock songs with such a simple structure, but it works. The piano and strings arrangement work perfectly.
The Rose Lyrics
Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed
It’s the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance
It’s the dream afraid of waking, that never takes the chance
It’s the one who won’t be taken, who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live
When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with the sun’s love in the spring becomes the rose
Songwriters: Amanda Mcbroom