Rod McKuen: Quotes about love

“If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun, and the stars.”

Rod McKuen

As closing scene in the 1968 musical Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1975 film version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdSXpC8fbNA
Translations and adaptations, If We Only Have Love (1968)
Context: If we only have love
We will never bow down
We'll be tall as the pines
Neither heroes nor clowns.
If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun, and the stars.

Love , Men , Star , Drink

“So… like laughing children we’ll go
singing love wherever we go.”

Rod McKuen

"Only Love" by Jacques Brel as translated on the album After Midnight (1988)
Translations and adaptations
Context: We have only love,
to help us find our way,
as we go out into the world.
So... like laughing children we’ll go
singing love wherever we go.

Love , Children , Singing

“We have only love,
to offer as a prayer,
for all the wrongs in the world.
So… like singing troubadours we’ll go,
singing love wherever we go.”

Rod McKuen

"Only Love" by Jacques Brel as translated on the album After Midnight (1988)
Translations and adaptations

Love , World , Singing

“If we only have love
We will never bow down”

Rod McKuen

As closing scene in the 1968 musical Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1975 film version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdSXpC8fbNA
Translations and adaptations, If We Only Have Love (1968)
Context: If we only have love
We will never bow down
We'll be tall as the pines
Neither heroes nor clowns.
If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun, and the stars.

Love

“If we only have love
Then tomorrow will dawn
And the days of our years
Will rise on that morn.”

Rod McKuen

Translations and adaptations, If We Only Have Love (1968)

Love

“If we only have love
We can melt all the guns
And then give the new world
To our daughters and sons. If we only have love
Then Jerusalem stands
And then death has no shadow
There are no foreign lands.”

Rod McKuen

Translations and adaptations, If We Only Have Love (1968)

Love , Death , World , Daughters

“If we only have love
We can reach those in pain
We can heal all our wounds
We can use our own names.”

Rod McKuen

Translations and adaptations, If We Only Have Love (1968)

Love , Pain