Bruce Springsteen: I'll Work For Your Love Meaning

I'll Work For Your Love Lyrics

Pour me a drink Theresa in one of those glasses you dust off
And I'll watch the bones in your back like the stations of the cross
'Round your hair the sun lifts a halo, at your lips a crown of thorns
Whatever the deal's going down, to this one...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 17th 2022 !⃝

   Its a guy sat at a bar admiring a good looking barmaid but apart from her looks he can't find anything good to say about her " at her lips a crown of thorns" she has a nasty potty mouth and " in her empty eyes of blue " she's thick. Also as most barmaids do when they start work she takes off her wedding ring.
2. anonymous

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   Sep 15th 2017 !⃝

   I'm not entirely clear on the meaning but it is a sad song.....the more I listen to it the sadder it is.
3. anonymous

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   Jul 10th 2014 !⃝

   This is about a blood covenant (marriage), ['whatever deals have gone down, to this one I'm sworn'], and the stations of the Cross.
   It is a mystical portrait of marriage.
4. Boards

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   Jan 19th 2012 !⃝

   For me the song is about a woman (Theresa) who has gone through a lot of living (one of those glasses you dust off) where love has come and gone and trust is almost non-existent. Theresa gives the appearance of having suffered (bones in your back) greatly, perhaps through her own decisions yet she seemingly has either retained or redeemed her life after great suffering (at your lips a crown a thorns)(round your hair the sun lifts a halo). The singer professes his good intentions towards her by his earnest request to approach her (pour me a drink Theresa) and distinguishes himself from other guys (what others may want for free). The singer feels he has broken through the protective wall that she has built around her and awakens her (the dust of civilizations...drifting down like rain). The singer shows her that her future is promising with him (The pages of Revelation) but he can see that she is not so easily convinced or in truth she is not receptive (in your empty eyes of blue). The woman goes through the motions as if to be accepting of the guy's advances (I watch you slip that comb through your hair). What follows in the next stanza is a complete collapse of this budding relationship (Well tears they fill the rosary) not caused by the guy who has given completely of himself to her (at your feet my temple of bones). This has become a living hell for both of them (Here in this perdition we go on and on). The realization comes to the guy that Theresa cannot love or be loved (Now I see your pieces crumbled) as if she was a facade that has simply collpased and he himself has become wounded by the effort he made (our book of faith's been tossed). The man has sacrificied himself by putting forth his trust which was broken (I'm just here searching for my own piece of the cross) and now he too will suffer broken trust as she has. It isn't entirely clear to the guy why this had to have happened (...mist in the garden before the fall). Then it all becomes perfectly clear (..your hands smooth the front of your blouse) in that this is a woman who wants pity, or maybe revenge, but not love (seven drops of blood fall).

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