Music Review: Nate Ruess "Nothing Without Love"

Nate Ruess

Nothing Without Love

Album: Grand Romantic

Year: 2015

            His girlfriend saves him from complete despair in the thrilling “Nothing Without Love.”

          Spiritual strings open the single, setting a searching tone.    Something is wrong. She won’t say it. But she avoids his gaze and in the quick glimpse he steals, he can see the pain in her eyes. He wants to reach out to her and let her rest in his arms. He thinks he may be at fault. They’ve been together for three years now and he’s starting to see the beginning of the end. It’s killing him inside, knowing it will be over soon. He wants to do all he can to save what they have. There is no one else he wants. He doesn’t know what he do without her. (“I am nothing without love/I'm but a ship stuck in the sand/Some would say that I'm all alone/But I am, I'm nothing without love/I wanna hold her in my arms/She feelin' alone, she feelin' sad/I would take credit for what's wrong,/But I am, I'm nothing without love/Three years at sea after the storm/And this sinking ship-love you put me on/God, I wish a gust of wind would come/And carry me home/But I, I got nowhere to go/Now I hear you sharp with the force of a wave/So I said myself I'm headed for the unpast day/Hey hey, I don't wanna lose this one/She made me feel whole, you know/I am, I'm nothing without love.”)

              In the chorus, he waits for her to leave a note for him in a random place again. He needs to know it will be ok. He wants to see her to light up around him. He wants to know about her day. (“Oh baby, show me a sign/Send me a signal that everything's fine/Come on, stand up right up by my side/You know that I wanna rest in your life.”)

             In the bridge, he says he’s detached from the world without her. He ceases to care. (“I am nothing without love/I'm just these palms without a pair/And I would take credit for this all/But I, I am nothing without love.”)

            An extended chorus is sung to end the single. (“Oh baby, show me a sign/Send me a signal that everything's fine/Come on, come one, come on right by my side/Don't you know that I, don't you know that I/Don't you know that I, I wanna rest in your life/I wanna rest in your life/I wanna rest in your life/I wanna rest in your life/'Cause I, I am nothing without love.”)

          Ruess is not giving up. Through her, he’s finding himself. The sense of peace he has had since meeting her is beginning to disappear, leaving him restless. The spiritual strings swell, which may seem over the top at first, actually punctuate the underlying frustration and helplessnes he’s feeling.

         The interesting  “Nothing Without Love” plays with structure and words and as a result, feels complete.