37. Whitesnake - "Is This Love"

"Is This Love" became one of the most popular hits for Whitesnake. When it was released in 1987 it reached number 9 in the UK charts and number 2 in the US single charts. The song was written by David Coverdale and guitarist John Sykes during the time they were putting together the album of the same name. David and John did this in south of France. The song had originally been written for singer Tina Turner. Coverdale confirmed these rumours in the booklet of Whitesnake '​s 20th anniversary edition, by saying:"Before I'd left [for the south of France] a friend at EMI had asked me for any ideas that would work for Tina Turner. So that was where the original idea for 'Is This Love' came from." "Is This Love" Is a pure power ballad and has lasted the test of time.

I should have known better
Than to let you go alone,
It's times like these
I can't make it on my own
Wasted days, and sleepless nights
And I can't wait to see you again

I find I spend my time
Waiting on your call,
How can I tell you, baby
My back's against the wall
I need you by my side
To tell me it's alright,
'Cos I don't think I can take anymore

Is this love that I'm feeling,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for
Is this love or am I dreaming,
This must be love,
'Cos it's really got a hold on me,
A hold on me...

I can't stop the feeling
I've been this way before
But, with you I've found the key
To open any door
I can feel my love for you
Growing stronger day by day,
An' I can't wait to see you again
So I can hold you in my arms

Is this love that I'm feeling,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for
Is this love or am I dreaming,
This must be love,
'Cos it's really got a hold on me,
A hold on me...

Is this love that I'm feeling,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for...
Is this love or am I dreaming,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for...


The song "Is This Love"? Is really about just that......... "LOVE". It's about a question? Behind the question is a hidden question, a deeper question. How do I identify love in the first place? Of course everyone needs love, deserves love, longs for love, and in a way cannot function properly as a human being unless they know love in some way. Whether in a marriage, or love that exists in a brotherhood, love that exists in friendship. Love helps us all function as human beings. The song is asking really "What does love look like?"

There are as many books written on the subject of  "Love" as the planets in the sky. Therapists offer love courses to identity the blockages to love.  Even the church has cashed in on the scene. From the "Marriage Course" to the University of Notre Dame in the US offering a degree course in "Love" Theology. 


Just think of the many songs that have been written about love in our lifetime and that appear on social media?  We’re talking about all of iTunes, Amazon MP3, Google, YouTube, Topspin, last.fm, Rhapsody, and now Facebook all have "Love" songs. It is reckoned that there are about 97 million songs that contain thoughts about love. I don'r know how the stats are researched but it gives us an idea that love is something that is prized and wanted by just about everyone on the planet.

The Bible is a book that speaks of love from the from the snake attacking Adam's love in the garden, to king David giving into his base desires in 1 Samuel 11 and his prayer of wrong doing in Psalm 51. Love is seen in the prophets, in their fiery condemnation of the people of God for backsliding and turning away from God laws and God's love for them. Love is seen in the book of proverbs the love of passing things down from father to son and the love demonstrated in Proverbs 31 with "The Good Wife" Love is seen in the book of song of Solomon, it's the most erotic book in the bible. Love appears in the New Testament with Jesus' birth and thought his life he offers people love. He dies a death of love, because God loves us (John 3:16) Love offers a way to be free. Perhaps the most famous chapter in the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 13 - Which is the answer to the search for "What does love look like?" and how do I recognise it when I see it.  "Is this Love" - Paul's answer would be "Yes".
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 "1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

"Is This Love"? - What does love look like. 1 Corinthians is a description of what Love looks like. Real love, dependable love - Love you can rely on. Love that remains. This is the kind of love you find in Jesus. It's the kind of love that you should find in the church. I'll leave you to figure out if you can see it in God's people or not. 

This is the kind of love that I'm longing for in all my relationships. the kind of love that is strong and true. I know that this love will make me a better man, a better lover, a better husband, a better father, a better friend and a better disciple of Jesus. Have you found love? Are you like the song "Is This Love" trying to recognise love and are not sure? Where ever you are in life's journey one thing is for sure...... You need love. This passage in 1 Corinthians helps us recognise it when it comes. Because infatuation and lust won't stand the test of time, infatuation and lust will never sustain us though our whole life..... only love will.



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