Knowing that you lied/
Straight-faced while I cried/
Still I look to find a reason to believe

“A Reason is to Believe” is incredibly misunderstood. Many think it is a love song—it isn’t. There are two primary reasons for this: one, the most common cover of this song is Rod Stewart’s live version which is an awful misinterpretation of the song. Second, the lyrics are a bit confusing.

The song is about a couple who are in a bad relationship—there is gaslighting and lying.  Yet, the narrator still “loves” her partner; partially out of habit, also due to the good times they had, but mostly because of the doubt that has been sowed in her mind. Rather than repel her, this behavior causes her to think that she can’t live without her partner. For whatever reason, she still believes that their relationship will work. Maybe because he is a sweet talker.

The narrator knows what is really happening, but breaking up is hard, especially with a manipulative individual. The song starts out: “If I listened long enough to you/ I’d find away to believe that it’s all true/” This sounds like the narrator is coming to the realization that she is not dating a good person. But will she be able to leave?

Karen Dalton’s version of this song is the best version. It is stripped down of all pretenses; is just her raspy voice and a banjo. She sings the song as it is meant to be—as if she is upset by her realization. Contrast that with Stewart’s version. He highlights the following lyric: “Someone like you/ makes it hard to live without/ somebody else”. That makes it sound as if he is realizing he found his long-lost love. That is not what this song is about. His delivery and tears at the end of the MTV Unplugged version is just weird.

The original version by Tim Hardin is amazing as well. Both Hardin and Dalton deliver classic folk performances. Their performance shows that a great musician just needs her instrument and voice to deliver a song that connects emotionally. I give Dalton’s version the slight edge, as it sounds more unique and heartbreaking.

As with many folk songs, the one weakness is the song-length. The song is short. I would have preferred another verse and chorus. That would hit the sweet spot.

Reason to Believe Lyrics

If I listened long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true
Knowing that you lied
Straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

Someone like you
Makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you
Makes it easy to give
Never think about myself

If I gave you time to change my mind
I’d find a way just to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied
Straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

If I listened long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true
Knowing that you lied
Straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

Someone like you
Makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you
Makes it easy to give
Never think about myself

Someone like you
Makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you
Makes it easy to give
Never think about myself

Someone like you
Makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you
Makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
Someone like you
Makes it hard to live without
Somebody else

written by Tim Hardin

He’d give up all his comforts/
And sleep out in the rain.
If she said that’s the way/
It ought to be.

Everyone thinks “When a Man Loves a Woman” is a love song. It’s not! It’s a song about all the foolish decisions a man makes when he loves a woman. He spends all his money, he can’t see her cheating, he ditches his friends, he’ll sleep out in the rain if she tells him to. It sounds like someone got burned. Love can make us into a fool.

What is interesting is that this song is sung at weddings. It is in the camp of songs that should be retired from weddings because they are really not happy love songs. Songs like “Every Breath You Take” and Dido’s “Don’t Leave Home” come to mind.

Listening back, the organ does sound a bit ominous. Like a funeral march. The horns sound kind of depressing too. This is more of a “chicks suck” song than a love song. Remarkably, the song does hold up well musically for being a song from the 50s. A lot of songs from that time period have not aged well. This still sounds relatively contemporary. (Compared to something like Tuiti Fruiti).

When a Man Loves a Woman Lyrics

When a man loves a woman
Can’t keep his mind on nothin’ else
He’d trade the world
For a good thing he’s found
If she is bad, he can’t see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend
If he puts her down

When a man loves a woman
Spend his very last dime
Trying to hold on to what he needs
He’d give up all his comforts
And sleep out in the rain
If she said that’s the way
It ought to be

When a man loves a woman
I give you everything I’ve got (yeah)
Trying to hold on
To your precious love
Baby please don’t treat me bad

When a man loves a woman
Deep down in his soul
She can bring him such misery
If she is playing him for a fool
He’s the last one to know
Loving eyes can never see

Yes when a man loves a woman
I now exactly how he feels
‘Cause baby, baby, baby
I am a man
When a man loves a woman

Songwriters: Calvin Houston Lewis / Andrew James Wright

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