4.24.2005

A great song

Waiting in Vain by Bob Marley.

An unusal twist on a love song, and it seems to capture the laid back feel of the Caribbean. He loves her, she's not ready, and so he's happy to wait. He's not pushy, not a stalker, but doesn't want to wait in vain. Just great.

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love.
From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, girl,
My heart says follow t'rough.
But I know, now, that I'm way down on your line,
But the waitin' feel is fine:
So don't treat me like a puppet on a string,
'Cause I know I have to do my thing.
Don't talk to me as if you think I'm dumb;
I wanna know when you're gonna come - soon.
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love,
'Cause if summer is here,
I'm still waiting there;
Winter is here,
And I'm still waiting there.
---
[Guitar solo]
---
Like I said:
It's been three years since I'm knockin' on your door,
And I still can knock some more:
Ooh girl, ooh girl, is it feasible?
I wanna know now, for I to knock some more.
Ya see, in life I know there's lots of grief,
But your love is my relief:
Tears in my eyes burn - tears in my eyes burn
While I'm waiting - while I'm waiting for my turn,
See!

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love, oh!
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna wait in vain.
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna wait in vain.
No, I don't wanna (I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain) -
No I - no I (I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't
wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain) -
No, no-no, I, no, I (I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain) -
It's your love that I'm waiting on (I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain);
It's me love that you're running from.
It's Jah love that I'm waiting on (I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain);
It's me love that you're running from.

4 comments:

Dan said...

Not one of my top handful of Marley songs, but I had never really delved into the lyrics before-thanks.

Interesting that you choose a "waiting" song as one in which to hilight lyrics. For the past couple of days, my humming/singing to myself has been dominated by a Willie Nelson song: Waiting Forever for You-individual words or phrases aren't worldbeaters, but overall (and, of course, combined with the music), it's very powerful. With even more patience than Bob Marley, Willie has reason to believe that he'll never hear from this woman again:

I love making love to your memory/
It's all I can do
I'm waiting forever,
Waiting forever-for you.

Beautiful.

C.F. Bear said...

Look like good lyrics. However, I am not a Bob Marley fan at all. There was this guy that I lived with at Philmont who played Bob all of the time. Our personalities clashed and I really could not stand his presence and I learned to dislike Bob a lot. It is an association type of thing for me. When I hear it, I get memories of him in my head and it taints my day. I would imagine that I rank just as high on his list of bastards as he ranks on mine. Anyway, the lyrics look good and I am glad that you can appreciate his music. :)

Dan said...

I can't imagine a guy that plays Bob Marley all the time being the kind of guy who clashes with anyone.

C.F. Bear said...

You would be surprised.