What Do You Want From Me

Lyrics:

As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears?
What do you want?
(What do you want from me?)
Should I sing until I can't sing anymore?
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
You're so hard to please
What do you want from me?

Do you think that I know something you don't know?
(What do you want from me?)
If I don't promise you the answers, would you go?
(What do you want from me?)
Should I stand out in the rain?
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you?
I'm not the one you need
What do you want from me?

You can have anything you want
You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water
Anything you want

You can own everything you see
Sell your soul for complete control
Is that really what you need?

You can lose yourself this night
See inside, there is nothing to hide
Turn and face the light

What do you want from me?

"What Do You Want from Me" is a song by Pink Floyd featured on their 1994 album, The Division Bell. Richard Wright and David Gilmour composed the music, with Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson supplying the lyrics. A live version from Pulse was released as a promotional single in Canada, reaching number 28 in the Canadian Top Singles charts.

Song structure and lyrics

The song is a slow, yet rocking ballad. It has a drum roll introduction, followed by a keyboard solo and then a guitar solo. David Gilmour has agreed with an interviewer that it is a "straight Chicago blues tune", while mentioning he is still a blues fan.

In an interview, David Gilmour was asked if the song returned to the theme of alienation from the audience. He responded by saying that it "actually had more to do with personal relationships but drifted into wider territory".

Reception

In a contemporary negative review for The Division Bell, Tom Graves of Rolling Stone described "What Do You Want from Me" as the only track on which "Gilmour sounds like he cares".