Without You


I'll grow when you grow
Let me loosen up the blindfold
I'll fly when you cry
Lift us out of this landslide

Wherever you go
Whenever we part

I'll keep on healing all the scars
That we've collected from the start
I'd rather this than live without you
For every wish upon a star
That goes unanswered in the dark
There is a dream I've dreamt about you

And from afar I lie awake
Close my eyes to find
I wouldn't be the same

I'll shine when you shine
Faded pictures on my mind
Sun sets on this ocean
Never once on my devotion

However you are
Or far that you fall

I'll keep on healing all the scars
That we've collected from the start
I'd rather this than live without you
For every wish upon a star
That goes unanswered in the dark
There is a dream I've dreamt about you

And from afar I lie awake
Close my eyes to find
I'd never be the same

Without you

Without you


Without You is, in my opinion, the finest song on Ukulele songs, and the album was worth it for this song alone. The music showcases the potential for mournful innocence in the instrument that I never really associated with the uke until Eddie, and the music conveys simultaneous feeling s of hope and loss without ever overcomplicating itself. This is also a showcase piece for what Eddie’s vocals are capable of in this stage of his career, especially for the slower, more delicate songs. There is a cracking richness in the voice, a mixture of warmth and optimism and wounded depth, and the performance captures the low end of his voice without showcasing it, which just amplifies the rest of the performance. There are lots of nice subtle moments in this vocal—the way his voice shimmers on the last few ‘without you’, the way the start of each line seems to come from someplace deep inside of him and the breathy accents at the end of each line, the way he so briefly holds certain words in the chorus (ALL the scars, Upon a star, IN the dark) to give them that extra little bit of power, like his voice is about to take off but stays grounded because that’s what the song requires—the way it intimates that something is missing and incomplete and so incapable of being what it could be.

Lyrically, like most of this record, it is hit or miss. Eddie’s stellar vocals across most of the songs help carry a bunch of underwritten lines, although the fact that the songs are meant to sound innocent also excuses some of the writing. I think he could have done better, but the songs don’t unduly suffer for it. The sentiment in the first verse, that the object of the singer’s love has trapped them both, through her inability to see the truth of their love, to let it overcome the obstacles that drag them down, is nice, and made more interesting by the understated sense of pleading (the prechoruses really emphasize this), the way the song is subtly begging the object to see what the singer sees. The sun sets on this ocean/never once on my devotion lyric I has a little too much sing songy cheese on paper, but Eddie’s delivery (and the mood set by the music) give it an expansiveness that takes you to a beach at sunset and paints a picture (as per the previous lyric) more moving than the actual lyric. But it’s a song, so that’s okay.

I do think the chorus is lovely. It showcases Eddie’s increasing mastery of melody (it sounds like we have the uke to thank for that), and the words flow effortlessly and without the self-conscious attention to rhyme that nags at the verses. The gentle determination in the first lyric (I’ll keep on healing all the scars that we’ve collected from the start. I’d rather this than live without you) conveys a sense of sacrifice and commitment that the first verse also aims for but can’t match, and makes him a martyr for his love, which makes the tragedy of the second lyric (for every wish upon a star that goes unanswered in the dark there is a dream I’ve dream about you), both the boundlessness of his love (there are an awful lot of unfilled wishes), the slight pessimism (the wishes in the dark, secret things he’s unable or unwilling to share) and above all else the need more poignant. In order for the song to work it has to convey, more than anything else, that the singer is truly lost without this person. And he makes you believe

Great song. Not quite 5 stars, but close, and a great song nevertheless.

been listening to Uke songs almost daily since it came out and even with that, i'm having trouble remembering which song this is, and i've seen ed twice this tour...

Definitely one of the strongest songs on this record. 4 stars.

This is a really nice tune. Nice melodies and movements. I wish he worked a little harder on the verse lyrics, a few seem a little lazy.

4 stars.

2 stars (that is the Letterman one right?)

This is one of the better songs Ed has written in the last decade. 4 stars.

Easy 4 stars for this one. Best song on the album. Even better live.

4 stars.

Not sure that i have it as the clear cut best song of Uke Songs, but its in the top 5 for sure.

This is my favorite song on the album. It was not a standout to me until I saw him play it on Letterman. After that some kind of switch was flipped and I couldn't get it out of my head.

I have no idea which one this is but since it's not Can't Keep it probably only deserves 2 stars.

I like Sleeping By Myself and Goodbye more, but this is 4 stars. Ranking this song, I've realized how much I still love this album.

Probably my favourite song on the album, along with 'Sleeping By Myself.' 4 stars.

My only issues:

The occasional lazy lyric (which I forgive, 'cus this is Ed after all).
The beautiful, melancholic chord structure in the introduction doesn't get repeated in the rest of the song. You have a lovely introduction, going into a better than average song, but the reappearance of that intro could've made this a 5.

My favorite song off of Uke Songs besides Can't Keep, which due to it's prior release I always have to remind myself is on the album. It's melodic, the progression is wonderful, but I think one of the reasons it stands out to me is that it doesn't seem to tied to the (for lack of a better term) gimmick of the record. I'm not really a fan of the record all that much, and I think part of the reason is that the unorthodox sound of the instrument is covering up really orthodox songwriting. That's not true with Without You; it's perfect on uke, but it could also be on acoustic guitar, electric, with a full-band, etc; it's not limited by the format it was made in.

I totally agree that this is what Eddie should be doing vocally at this stage of his career.

For me it is the third best Ed uke song after Can't Keep and Rise up.

love what he's done here but just think a lot more texture could have been added with other people doing the background harmonies. like it a lot more than the old bootleg we had of it. great story to it too, thanks for that

Rise isn't a ukulele song.

It's a mandolin isn't it?

Love it, easily 4 stars, and easily one of Uke's finest

4.5 stars.

Lovely.

I'm excited that EdVed can write a song of such exquisite beauty at this stage of his career.