a short site about The Divine Comedy

French version

If...

Lyrics & Music: Neil Hannon

Published by: Damaged Pop Music / BMG Music Publishing Ltd.

Originally interpreted by: The Divine Comedy

Covered by: Beauty & Beast

 

To see the lyrics, click on the name of the version you are interested in (on the left).

 

Tabs/Scores

Informations

It's been played quite often since 1996.

The song was written in a rush (an exception in A Short Album About Love as most songs were quite old).

The songs works like a Chinese portrait. Each line is a comparison of his lover with something. Sometimes these comparisons are quite unexpected. Each time, he says what he would do if she were this or that. The structure is ascending. In the first chorus, it evokes trees, a recurrent theme in Neil's songs (even his daughter has got the name of a tree: Willow!). The second one is about horses, with a possible reference to 'My Lovely Horse'. The song reaches a climax in the third chorus, where he compares her to a dog and claims she would be happier then because she wouldn't have to think. His love for her turns into madness and a will to dominate and even almost destroy his beloved.

There comes a feeling of unease not only because some comparisons are quite strange, but also because in the end the song becomes really scary and dramatic, hence the orchestration.

Horses and dogs are Neil's favourite animals (see 'The Dogs And The Horses').

In the first verse, "the way, the truth and the light" is a phrase used to speak of Jesus.