Don't Know Much

A Reason To Smile

We have featured several duets in our A Reason To Smile series, because, well, we love them. There is something quintessentially human about the merging of two voices in harmony. We live our lives ultimately as individuals — but we can be buoyed by our relationships with others. In dialogue, we can find meaning, support, and hope.

It is not surprising that many duets speak of love, especially of a romantic nature. The coupling of voices conveys one of the core elements of the human experience. Duets can be aspirational, rueful, tender, or strident. They can look forward from the first blush of love or backward once the bloom has faded. And sometimes, they can exist in the complex emotional eddies that occupy so much of our lived experiences. 

Today, we are featuring one that does just that, and it comes from two of the most unusual and engaging voices in the history of American popular music. “Don’t Know Much” tells the story of a couple in middle age who look back over the years, trying to understand what love really is — yet also knowing they’ve found it. The song is beautiful and powerful as written, but in the voices of Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt, it reaches the sublime. 

Life leaves no one unscathed. And that’s true for the lovers in this song. The lyrics speak of “so many questions still left unanswered.” We get evocative details of uncertainty, aging, and heartache. 

Look at this face
I know the years are showing
Look at this life
I still don’t know where it’s going

Look at these eyes
They’ve never seen what mattered
Look at these dreams
So beaten and so battered

The chorus, however, serves as a powerful rejoinder. It explains that we don’t have to have everything figured out; it even suggests that’s an impossible goal. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find love and hope. 

I don’t know much
But I know I love you
And that may be
All I need to know

At a time of so much sadness and acrimony, we feel that the simple yet powerful message of this Grammy-winning song, delivered by two heavenly voices — delicate and powerful — offers A Reason To Smile:

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