What does Sting mean when he says "if you love someone, set them free."?

Question

You know that song. Awesome song, as Fargo would ask, what the hek does he mean??

thanks for all the great answers....

Answer 1

It means that if you truely love someone, you have to let them go. Let them go to find their way. If your love is truely meant to be then they will come back.

It really means that don't hold your loved ones back for fear of losing them. Say your girlfriend of 5 years get a scholarship to Europe for two years, don't hold her back let her go. If she comes back to you then your love is truely meant to be and survive just about anything.

Answer 2

It's easy to love and be in love and smother the love to death, it's harder to love unconditionally.

What the saying means is....if you really love someone or something, let it go to be who it needs to be ...not who you want it to be. Don't hold it down and back it up and make that person or whatever feel it must be content with what it has because it will "never be this happy again" by your words not theirs.

If you let them go, to be who they want to be, whether that is to leave and run away or whatever, then that means you love them. If they come back like a cat in from outside in the yard, it means they love you and are willing to comeback to whatever problems there are that need to be overcame to be together.

Answer 3

Let them know, because the truth will set you free as well. But you have to know what true love is to do that. Marvin Gaye knows........just listen. Album(Whats going on) Like electricity the same energy has to be flowing in both directions or something is gonna short circut and thats wack.......!

Answer 4

A bird happy with its owner will fly away and come back same meant with the mtaphore towards people if some one loves you they will always be back so you really don't have to worry where they are.

Answer 5

It doesn't make sense but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Think about it. An above answerer wrote about "smothering" . This is kind of what its about. Think about parenting. The parents have to let go of their child so the child can grow and learn. So that they will eventually get married. Its hard to explain.

Answer 6

Release them from the bonds of your love or you do not truly love them; you are merely satisfying your own lust and tying them down to the picture that you have of them. If they are free to be themselves, to go wherever they would, you are not in control...and therefore, if that love comes back to you, it was meant for you.

Answer 7

B4 l say good bye with my xbf, l 'm set his free n let him do anything his likes,event his date with another girl l also let him go coz l dun wan 2 restrain his but at last his fallen in lov with another girls n his give me the reason is l never 2 care about him n restrain him.....so blue.....that is my 1st love......~_~

Answer 8

well i tell you the if you love someone set them free really works it seems like every time i have been with someone i call them i tell them i love them they start acting standoffish then once i start acting standoffish they just want to cling to me and call all the time and wonder what im doing so if you love someone and they are acting like a *** set them free and they will be on your ***.

Answer 9

If you love someone set them free...if they dont come back to you hunt them down

Answer 10

If you've ever read the popular philosophy of the 1970's book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", it says that if you love something, set it free....if it comes back to you, it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was. pretty brilliant, huh?