"God Give Me Strength" To Hurt and To Hold On

 

"God Give Me Strength"

Now I have nothing
So God give me strength
'Cos I'm weak in her wake
And if I'm strong I might still break
And I don't have anything to share
That I won't throw away into the air

That song is sung out
This bell is rung out
She was the light that I'd bless
She took my last chance of happiness
So God give me strength
God give me strength

I can't hold on to her
God give me strength
When the phone doesn't ring
And I'm lost in imagining
Everything that kind of love is worth
As I tumble back down to the earth

That song is sung out
This bell is rung out
She was the light that I'd bless
She took my last chance of happiness
So God give me strength

God if she'd grant me her indulgence and decline
I might as well
Wipe her from my memory
Fracture the spell
As she becomes my enemy

Maybe I was washed out
Like a lip-print on his shirt
See, I'm only human
I want him to hurt
I want him
I want him to hurt

Since I lost the power to pretend
That there could ever be a happy ending
That song is sung out
This bell is rung out
She was the light that I'd bless
She took my last chance of happiness
So God give me strength
God give me strength 

 

 Writer(s): Elvis Costello, Burt F. Bacharach

 

Truth in writing is essential to strong meaning. This is one of my favorite lost-love songs because of its honesty in accurately addressing a forlorn relationship. Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach pull no punches in the verses. Reduced to "nothing," the narrator in the song admits his ex-lover took with her departure "his last chance for happiness." And, as the melody rises to an emotional fever pitch, Costello bellows at the top of his range in a stunning moment of honesty -- "I want him (his substitute) to hurt!" for "his" apparent affront.

 

Listening to the narrator declare an end to any glimmer of a loving relationship, he admits his own human fault of non-forgiveness ... and somehow I agree with him. I want this bastard to hurt, too. Hurt "him" and not her. Does this mean his love is still deeply ingrained although totally lost? This is tragedy yet with brutal consequences for such intrusion.

 

Revenge? Righteous anger? Most of us have been there at some time in our lives, and this sentiment not only comes from the hurt but also from the bruised heart ... and possibly a small section of torn ego. The narrator admits that he’s finally reached a point of no return: Since I lost the power to pretend / That there could ever be a happy ending.

 

Isn't this a bit of a shocker after considering the title and the refrain? The speaker  calls on the Almighty to heal (and to take revenge) for an apparent affront he cannot get over. Complete darkness and loss of strength reveal his pitiful plea to "wipe her from his memory." What a declaration of his total dependence upon her -- her loss destroys all hope for any bright future. This man is hopeless and helpless -- a songwriter's sentiment usually requiring sappy, overused lyrics such as "I can't live without her."

 

I often wonder if Bacharach didn't write this as a companion piece for Costello's great tune "Alison"? 

Well, I see you've got a husband now
Did he leave your pretty fingers lying in the wedding cake?
You used to hold him right in your hand
But I bet he took all that he could take

Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking
When I hear the silly things that you say
I think somebody better put out the big light
'Cause I can't stand to see you this way

Allison, I know this world is killing you
Oh, Allison, my aim is true
My aim is true

 

It's the honesty that makes the listener feel the hurt himself -- no bullshit but just plain truth considering unrequited love. All the pain and grief are here. But absent is trite  trifling with sentimentality and even hope. Both the love and future of the relationship are dead ... stone cold "sung out" and "rung out." As I listen, I become the lost soul of the singer in the song. The lyrics confess the only source of saving sanity and reason is God himself. Without His help, the singer seems doomed not only in any possible future relationships but also, very possibly, in living.  

Few songs consistently make me feel alone and in complete remorse every time I play them. "God Give Me Strength" (and "Alison") break me down with total consistency of mood. They are complete, honest, and heartbreaking. They are true. In that aim, Costello succeeds. These tunes offer views of love at the breaking point.

 

Jennifer Bell offers this accurate interpretation of "God Give Me Strength":  

 

"Elvis Costello’s hauntingly beautiful voice adds an additional layer of depth and emotion to the song. His heartfelt delivery of the lyrics draws listeners in, allowing them to connect with the profound emotions being conveyed. The melody itself is melancholic, evoking a sense of despair and longing ... both introspective and relatable. It is through these lyrics that listeners can find solace and understanding in their own experiences of heartbreak.

 

(Jennifer Bell. "The Meaning Behind The Song: God Give Me Strength by Elvis Costello." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-god-give-me-strength-by-elvis-costello/. August 25, 2023.)