Teach Me to Forget
Love's Lessons: Embracing Forgiveness in Willie Nelson's 'Teach Me to Forget'
Lyrics
You taught me how to love
You instructed me on how to love.
With all my heart
Wholeheartedly, with complete dedication.
With all my soul
With all my soul, implying deep emotional connection.
I trusted you
I placed my trust in you.
And now you say
Now you declare we must live separately.
We'll have to live apart
Facing a situation I am unfamiliar with.
A thing I don't know
I don't know how to cope with this.
How to do
An expression of uncertainty and distress.
You said someday
You promised that someday I'd find someone new.
I'd find somebody new
Assuring a future without regrets.
And I'll have
I will not have any remorse.
Not one regret
Stay a while, test the truth of your words.
But stay a while
Considering the possibility of staying together.
If what you say is true
If what you say is true, then stay and help me forget.
Stay and teach me to forget
Request for emotional support and guidance.
You taught me how
You taught me to adore only you.
To worship you alone
Expressing devotion and exclusivity.
And now you say
Now you announce your departure.
You'll have to go
Receiving calls from people confirming your predictions.
And people call me
Others saying, "I told you so."
On the telephone
Telephone calls serving as reminders of the situation.
Just to say I told you so
Confirmation of the predicted separation.
I know now that I
I realize that I only learned to live on the night we first met.
Only learned to live
A revelation about the source of life's meaning.
On the night
Referring to the significant night of their meeting.
When first we met
Belief in divine intervention for forgiveness.
God above will teach me
Turning to God for guidance in forgiving.
To forgive
Requesting divine assistance in letting go of resentment.
But stay
Stay, be there for me.
And teach me to forget
Continue to teach me how to forget.
Please stay
Urgent plea for continued emotional support.
And teach me to forget
Reiteration of the request to help in forgetting.
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