All I Ever Want

words & music by Doug Howell (8/73)

all I ever want to say
and all I ever want to be
is you, Lord
yes it’s you, Lord
all I ever want is you

everything I want to do
and everything I want to feel
it’s you, Lord
oh, it’s you, Lord
all I ever want is you

I’m fed up with searching
my whole life away
I don’t want to waste
even one more day
I’m telling all my doubts
that they can fly away
cause all I’ve ever wanted
is what I’ve got today

it’s you, Lord
yes it’s you, Lord
all I ever want is you

1975 Notes

That summer I had my eye on a Chevy Nova I wanted to buy, and my anticipation mounted each time I saw it or took it for a test drive. When I bought it I drove all over the country showing it off—it felt so fine. It was just like I thought it would be—almost. But by the time I parked it at home the excitement was gone. I was just as alone as I had been the day before.

If I had to choose, I guess this would be my life song. When it came to me, I thought it would be the last one—ever.
I couldn’t imagine having anything more to say.

Philippians 3:7-10

2005 Notes

And, in a sense, there still isn’t much more to say. But in another sense, there’s always more. More to say, more to do, more to be, more to learn. We keep on learning the same lessons over and over again sometimes, but each time it goes one layer deeper. Just when you think you’ve hit bottom, you discover there’s another layer.

That’s what I’m trying to say about love, I guess. I used to think there were many different kinds of love. (C. S. Lewis says there are four. I love that book.) Yet the more time marches on, the more I sense things merging. And that sort of sums love up, in a way. It’s not about separating, it’s about merging. As Hannah Hurnard said, it’s about recognizing your oneness with those around you—those who aren’t your favorites, as well as those who are.

And speaking of summing things up, Davey says I should summarize things here. Where do all these thoughts leave us, after all? But I can’t. Not quite yet. I have at least four more albums to go, and we are bound to discover a few more things about love on that journey. So for now, I’ll thank you for listening to these songs yet again. It’s been a neat experience for me, listening to them and learning how to play them again. Especially this last one. I just played it tonight, as a matter of fact. Just when you think something is too old and too tired and hopelessly worn out, you discover that it has a little life left in it after all. It has a little more to show you. It’s like the words keep becoming true in new ways. And if it’s anything I wish for all of us, it’s in the last line of that bridge. May each of us experience the joy of knowing that “all I’ve ever wanted is what I’ve got today.”