Sometime in 1981, the American country and pop singer-song writer, John Denver wrote “Perhaps Love” which he considered to be the best song he ever wrote. The first stanza of the song goes like this:

Perhaps love is like a resting place,
a shelter from the storm.
It exists to give you comfort,
it’s there to keep you warm,
And in those times of trouble when you are most alone,
the memory of love will bring you home

Denver said the song came to him in the depths of despair. For some reason, he was very happy, even depressed, “feeling a total loss, that’s how it was” as he puts it [1]. It may have something to do with his dad’s passing the previous spring as well as his impending divorce with his first wife, Annie (of Annie’s Song). Just then, while driving back to Los Angeles on a sunny day, Denver’s mood became decidedly more upbeat. All of a sudden, he felt lucky to be John Denver, lover of nature, gifted song-writer whose songs touched millions with the message of love, hope, and peace. And in the middle of this epiphany, this song came to him, a song that ruminates on the bitter-sweet experience of love in the broadest sense of this much used word.

“Perhaps Love” was first recorded in 1981 as a duet with the opera singer, Placido Domingo and it appeared on Domingo’s album of the same title. Pairing the two singers was the idea of Milton Okun, the album’s producer. Lee Holdridge was the music conductor for the album. The recording wasn’t expected to be a commercial success; a radio station played it on air as a way to preview the song as none of the turntables were working at the time. To both men’s surprise, the call-in response from listeners was overwhelming and convinced them to release it. According to Wikipedia, “Perhaps Love” peaked at #22 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart and #49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

Here is the Denver-Domingo studio recording of “Perhaps Love” (lyrics in the notes below)

Notes:

[1] In a live concert at the Apollo Theatre in central London, on 26 October 1982, John Denver told the audience how he wrote the song moments before he sang it.

[2] The full lyrics of “Perhaps Love”

Perhaps love is like a resting place
A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home

Perhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don’t know what to do
The memory of love will see you through

Oh, love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t know

Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it’s cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you

And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t know.