All In My Mind

Album: Express (1986)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "All In My Mind" is about a lazy, paranoid woman who's too miserable to be around but too hot to leave - and the man too shallow to get out of the situation.

    Her beauty can only ever be skin deep
    But if I'm honest that's all I ever
    Really need


    In the first half of the song, Love and Rockets frontman Daniel Ash tells the woman that her fears and resentments are all in her imagination.

    But if you look into your mirror
    You'll see that nobody has ever ripped you off
    It's all in your mind


    The second half has the woman talking back, admitting it's all in her mind but arguing that it only makes her worthier of pity. She guilts him for the accusation.

    Enough syntactical oddities exist in the song to suggest it's about Ash's own psyche or something equally metaphorical, but the vocalist clarified things (somewhat) in his Songfacts interview, saying, "I'm going through the song lyric right now in my head... you've got me stumped. To be honest, most of my songs are about women, so it would have been about a relationship."

    He went on to say that nearly all Love And Rockets songs are about the meaning of life or women. "I think that really shows if you think about Love And Rockets' catalog, that's pretty much the two subject matters most of the time. It's a rock n' roll cliché, but what can I tell you?"
  • This was the third and final single released off Express, the second Love And Rockets album. It was the only one to chart, hitting #49 on the Mainstream Rock chart.
  • Express includes two versions of this song, one being the single version and the other acoustic.

Comments: 1

  • Wolfman from Los AngelesI really like this song and always have ever since it came out. Today was the first time I ever looked up the lyrics and meaning. Cool stuff. I also wonder if the band took their name from the comics Love and Rockets or if the comic took the name from the band....
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell NdegeocelloSongwriter Interviews

Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.