Album: All The Little Lights (2012)

Charted: 2 5

License This Song 

• Well you only need the light when it's burning low
  Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
  Only hate the road when you're missing home
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  And you let her go
  
  Staring at the bottom of your glass
  Hoping one day you'll make a dream last
  But dreams come slow and they go so fast
  You see her when you close your eyes
  Maybe one day you'll understand why
  Everything you touch surely dies
  
  But you only need the light when it's burning low
  Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
  Only hate the road when you're missing home
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  
  Staring at the ceiling in the dark
  Same old empty feeling in your heart
  'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast
  Well you see her when you fall asleep
  But never to touch and never to keep
  'Cause you loved her too much and you dive too deep
  
  Well you only need the light when it's burning low
  Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
  Only hate the road when you're missing home
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  And you let her go
  Oh oh oh no
  And you let her go
  Oh oh oh no
  Well you let her go
  
  'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
  Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
  Only hate the road when you're missing home
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  
  'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
  Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
  Only hate the road when you're missing home
  Only know you love her when you let her go
  And you let her go Writer/s: Michael David Rosenberg
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 6

• Kjsgad from NigeriaThis is indeed a very touching song; I first heard this song from the movie entitled "The Blacklist" this song makes me sad whenever I play it.
• Jennifer Malinowski from Cohoes My grandmother really love this song and she shared it with us all. And when she passed away in 2016 all we could play was this song and we played it for her before she passed. This song for me has a whole other meaning. It’s the most heart touching song ever. And everytime I hear of it I think of my grandma. Our whole family does.
• Labet from NigeriaThis song vis really killing me inside,I have a girl here whom I loved so much we have been together for 4years now she has been misbehaving and becoming to difficult for me to handle,now I'm considering letting her go.. And this song ache my heart each time I listened to it,it has been on replay for weeks now the worlds and the lines are just too powerful
• Olumide from NigeriaI've never seen a comment about a song this real.
• Sandra from NigeriaWow, Mark, your comment is so beautiful. Making me see this song in another way round.
• Mark Grant from Natchitoches, LaYeah, I read all the above comments about Mike Rosenberg writing Let Her Go after a break-up and that's great and all; I mean it's sad, and the song is great and now they are sort of friends again - that's great. But I think this song transcends a break-up; it's larger than that. In my case I have been married - happily married I add, to the same lady for over 30 years and I was career military with 3 combat tours of duty in the war against terrorism, but in the almost 25 years that I was in the Army I was gone a lot.... A LOT ! And once I retired from the Army I went right back to the war working for a command in in the Department of the Army. I've had a lot of time away from my wife, and for me this song describes the loneliness I feel when I am away from my wife. Once when was on a 2 week R&R I had put this song on my iPod and my middle son who is also on Bagram Airbase with me and I we were just hanging out one night and I was playing the new songs I had down loaded. Let Her Go was one of them. I played it and he wanted to hear it again and without him saying so, I could tell how much this song made him miss his own lovely lady. I could just see it in his eyes. So while this song was inspired by a break up it's much larger than that. It's an anthem for anyone who misses their significant other when they are separated for any reason.

More Songfacts:

Cigarettes And Chocolate MilkRufus Wainwright

"Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk" describes a time in Rufus Wainwright's life when he found himself hungover and pounding chocolate milk to feel better. It didn't work, so he smoked a cigarette, which is when he realized his addictive personality could be a problem.

MacArthur ParkRichard Harris

Richard Harris, who played Professor Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, had a hit in 1968 with "MacArthur Park."

Highway to HellAC/DC

The "Highway To Hell" is the Canning Highway in Australia, which seems to go on forever, at least according to AC/DC.

BoombasticShaggy

Shaggy wrote his swaggering hit "Boombastic" after learning what "shag" means in the UK.

Everything Your Heart DesiresHall & Oates

The Hall & Oates hit "Everything Your Heart Desires" has no rhymes.

Can I Kick It?A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest sampled the mellow groove of Lou Reed's 1972 classic "Walk On The Wild Side" on "Can I Kick It?" It fit their vibe, with Q-Tip and Phife Dawg trading lines about hanging out and having fun, the definition of "kickin' it."

Editor's Picks

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & TearsSongwriter Interviews

The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Kip WingerSongwriter Interviews

The Winger frontman reveals the Led Zeppelin song he cribbed for "Seventeen," and explains how his passion for orchestra music informs his songwriting.

N.W.A vs. the WorldSong Writing

How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.