All I Want by Kodaline

Album: In a Perfect World (2013)

Charted: 67

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Songfacts®:

Kodaline are an Irish Pop-Rock band comprising vocalist Stephen Garrigan, guitarist Mark Prendergast, drummer Vinny May and bassist Jason Boland. This is a song from their debut release, The Kodaline EP. The band's name means absolutely nothing. According to Garrigan they just wanted something they could take ownership of. "We made it up ourselves, but we later found out it's a character on f---in World Of Warcraft," he said. "I promise you, we've never even played the game. It's just a bizarre coincidence."
This slow burner featured in the season 9 episode of Grey's Anatomy, "Remember the Time." It was also used as the background music for Google's 2012: Year In Review video.
The song captures the despair that Stephen Garrigan felt when his then-girlfriend flew off on holiday and returned home with a new guy. He told The Sun: "The breakup was two years before. It takes some people longer to get over stuff. Every word is autobiographical. It was pure hell.

"I was in my attic," he continued," just lying there, isolating myself from everything and feeling sorry for myself. When I wrote that song, it was a f---ing weight off my shoulders. It's a sad song, but then again it's a positive song, because it says I'll find somebody. Life goes on."
Garrigan writes most of the band's music but insists they all contribute. "It's intensely personal stuff," he told The Independent. "It's like opening your diary and passing it around for judging. 'All I Want' is basically a letter to my ex-girlfriend. Every song has its own story."

How does the rest of the band feel about living out their singer's catharsis? In our interview with Vinny May, he explained: "We've known each other for such a long time, so when Steve was going through breakups and writing some of the songs that are on the album, we were experiencing it with him - we'd have rehearsals or just be hanging out in Mark's house and we could tell what was going on. So we kind of went through the breakup, because he was telling us everything. We were able to empathize with him."
The ending of the relationship that inspired this song was Garrigan's first real breakup. "I didn't know how to deal with it," he told Radio.com. "Every lyric is everything I was going through in my room. I was basically writing down what I was going through."
Garrigan told Artist Direct that it is important for him to get across exactly how he feels in his songwriting. "I'm really getting something off my chest," he said. "It could be happy. It could be sad. It could be anything else in between. I try to be very direct in what I'm getting across. 'All I Want' is exactly where I was."
The song's music video tells the story of a monster looking for love and the bond he has with his dog. The message of the clip is don't judge a book by its cover. "Everyone is beautiful in their own way," said Garrigan. "And as cliché as that is, it's true."
The band got a huge boost when they performed this song a season 13 episode of American Idol on March 6, 2014. The band was touring the US when they appeared on the show, which garnered about 20 million viewers.

Comments: 11

Henpen from TexasI’ve always loved this song, but it meant so much more to me after 3/31/21, The day I Lost my Love, My Soul mate of 50 years. He died from complications after heart surgery.
This song holds my heart every time it plays from my playlist. Thank you for sharing your pain.
T.p from Auckland Hi, When I first heard this song I always think of him, my husband passed away 8 month ago . This song hits different to me its like me thanking him for everything and all the things we've been through. "All I want is nothing more to hear you knocking at my door I could die a happy man I'm sure. Take my body. Always makes me cry.
Dagmawit from Georgia I first heard this song about a 5 months ago, I didnt think much of it at first I just thought it was another sad song. I met a guy a year ago that turned into my bestfriend and like an older brother to me. we had both been adopted, we both had big dreams, we both played soccer , and we both had a connection with each other like a soul tie. We had these bog dreams of moving to the same state and having lives near each other. But last year he dissapeared and his last texts to me where that he had a surprise for me. I was so confused and lost the first 3 months that he didnt respond to calls or texts or letters. But listening to this song was a place I could just let go and sob. The lyrics " if you loved me , then whyd you leave me " always really hit home. I hope whoever reads this finds peace in their lives. Have a good night and always remember you're loved.
Anonymous I first started to like this song just because of it's beauty. Only recently have I let the lyrics get to me. For me, this song is about me and my highschool sweetheart. After highschool we spent our last summer together and we had an amazing summer. We traveled, we worked and lived together, and our love was as strong as it ever had been. I met most of his family when we traveled and it was like I finally had a family. He wasnt just the love of my life, he was my heart and soul. At the end of the summer we parted ways when I went to school out of state and he started in the Navy. It was hard to be apart, but we made it through bootcamp and he did incredible. What stands out to me most is how he looked like a total stranger the first time I saw him after he got out, because he was no longer really mine, our U.S. Navy took him. We still talked the same and loved each other, and I will always love him...but it took less than a year before our story ended. Now he is gone and I feel like the Navy killed the best part of myself. Three years have passed now but I know that this heartbreak will stay with me always. Some days are easier but nothing can replace the soul I lost. If I could go back, i dont know if i would let him leave. All I can hope is that I made him feel loved and supported and maybe that was enough. Love you always.
AnonymousRecently, when I heard All I Want by Kodaline, I was crying over my boyfriend. This song is so peaceful, I hear it every day now. But the point is, I kept getting these dry vibes from him, it was as if I couldn´t get a good response anymore, it hurt me. It was because the relationship seemed more distant, he was working and busy every day, it made me lay down on my bed and cry myself to sleep. I have his full-on trust, it hurts to just have him leave even for a slight minute because I´m afraid of losing him just for anything.
Mady from New JerseyIm adopted. As a kid i grew up thinking this song was about my biological mother. Now older, its a song about her and it makes me realize that things happen for a reason..Please if you need someone to talk to reach out.
AnonymousI used to have this one best friends, and wed always be together no matter what. wed always run up to each other and tell everything, we couldn't ever be alone for more than 5 minutes and we would always FaceTime share food hang out text and snap. when people would pass by us and know that we were best friends. we were inseparable. always together. shed be there for me and id be there for her all. the. time. boy problems, stress, family stuff, school, or just being sad in general. but then in late October a new girl came and transferred school from one place to another and she came to ours. she and my best friend started to talk and hang out. me and my best friend started to fall off and drift apart from each other. then towards the end of the year they became very close and I felt extremely left out. I didn't know what I could do because she wouldn't ever talk to me. I started crying every night because of how much I missed her. my birthday started to arrive and we would always talk about our birthdays and how wed get eachother super cute gifts, but because she got close with the other girl, she never mentioned my birthday anymore. then my birthday came and she didn't say anything to me anymore. she didn't get me anything, she dint say happy birthday. I cried that entire day I didn't want to do anything and I was so upset. during quarantine, we both lost our old best friend and she dropped both of us. after that happened she told me ill never leave you like she did. the lyrics in the song say "if you loved me why'd you leave me" and I think about it all the time now, because she didn't officially leave me but we just aren't close anymore, like we just poof and are now strangers. everything's so awkward between us and nothings the same anymore. I just miss the old you. and I wish you could see how hard I'm trying to keep you and not lose you. I miss her and I just wish things could go back to normal. February 2021 (hey guys lol)
Morgan L from Canada I first heard this song a couple months ago on Tik tok and I thought it was pretty good sounding, and kinda sad. I watched this tv show which had a scene in the fifth season where two best friends, two people who completed each other, and got each other, had to part ways for good as one of them left to sail the world. The worst part was that, he never came back. Not even in the shows finally like I thought he would. It was very sad and I just listened to this song and I cried a lot. Wait part about all this: it was a comedy, and it made me feel so ba Defoe crying about it.
Chelsea from CaliforniaAround 3 years ago I had these two best friends. we did everything together and I never though we would stop being friends. We planned on going to college together and being friends when we are old and married. But after a while,they stopped hanging out with me. I never understood why, and for months I would cry almost every day. I was like a living corpse, go to school, don't talk to anyone, just try and get through the day without crying. They moved on and found a new friend. All I want to know is if they felt the pain of losing me. Almost everything I do reminds me of them. The lyrics "if you loved me why'd you leave me?" And I think about this all the time. If they truly loved me as I had loved them, did they feel the tears at night, the saddest memories, the emptiness and loneliness like I do? I would never forget them, and I could never be mad at them because i still love them, even if we don't talk anymor. Thanks for coming to my tedtalk- September 2020
L from Nyc I had a guy who I fell deeply in love I think I still love him I’m not sure and we broke up like 5 years ago or 4 I’m not sure anymore I’ve lost count of the years and it was this breakup that hurt me the most because he was the love of my life and I knew I was his and despite everything we went through I loved him i loved him so much and I knew he loved me I knew it and then one day he left for college and it wasn’t the same. He left me and ever since then I have always questioned myself I’ve always questioned “ if you loved me why’d you leave me?” Why why why. This song helped me heal from this breakup every once in a while I still cry Bc it was love it was real love. And he just left me
Nikki from New Yorkhi, i’m nikki and i’m 14. i heard this song for the first time about 7 or 8 months ago. it made me feel a different type of pain. i heard it a couple days after my father passed away from a drug overdose. “when you said your last goodbye, i died a little bit inside” “all i want is nothing more, than to hear you knocking at my door” “but if you loved me, why’d you leave me?” those lyrics spoke to me on a personal level, this was one of those songs i could put my headphones in and just listen to it and cry. i loved my dad but i felt abandoned and lost and it hasn’t gotten better. 8 months and i still cry every day. it’s the worse pain i’ve ever felt, aside from losing my grandpa, grandma, best friend, aunt, cousin, etc. i feel that if my dad wasn’t selfish he’d still be here today. thanks for listening to my rant, have a nice day:)

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