Until the Real Thing Comes Along

The speaker describes an intense willingness to do almost anything for someone they love, from working hard to making impossible sacrifices. Yet the repeated suggestion that this love will “have to do” until “the real thing” arrives complicates the devotion. The mood is playful and extravagant, but beneath it is a hint of insecurity: the speaker may fear that their feelings are not enough.

Several images make the promises vivid. “Move the earth” and “draw the stars down from the sky” are impossible acts, so they express devotion through deliberate exaggeration. “I’d beg, lie, rob, steal, beg, borrow” piles up dramatic actions to show how far the speaker claims to go. The phrase “If that ain’t love” sounds conversational and almost joking, as if the speaker is trying to persuade both the beloved and themselves that these gestures count as love.

The central ambiguity lies in “until the real thing comes along.” It could be self-mocking humor: the speaker knows their promises are no substitute for a deeper, mutual love. It could also be a resigned admission that they see themselves as temporary or inadequate. The lyrics do not explain whether the beloved returns these feelings, so the song can sound both like a comic declaration of loyalty and a sad plea to be taken seriously.