About The Song
The peerless Supremes racked up a remarkable tally of 12 No.1 American pop singles in just five years and four months, between 1964 and 1969. On September 10, 1966, they moved into the second half of that run, which saw the trio hurry towards chart immortality with “You Can’t Hurry Love.”
The trio’s first six pop chart-toppers had, incredibly, all arrived within the space of 15 months, from “Stop! In The Name Of Love” in August 1964 to “I Hear A Symphony” in November 1965. When the group returned to singles action the next year, “My World Is Empty Without You” reached “only” No.5 and “Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart” No.9. But as their next release, “You Can’t Hurry Love” was in a hurry, taking just five weeks to race 66-28-7-4-1.
By this time, Berry Gordy’s expectations for Motown were almost ruthlessly high. As recalled in Volume 6 of the Complete Motown Singles series, in early July, 1966 he sent a memo to his staff that read: “We will release nothing less than Top 10 product on any artist. And because the Supremes’ worldwide acceptance is greater than the other artists, on them we will release only No.1 records.”
The Holland-Dozier-Holland composition had the working title “This Is Where I Came In,” before they landed on the lyric they wanted. Taken from the album The Supremes A’ Go-Go, it was a hands-down commercial winner from the get-go. The single started its two-week run atop the Hot 100 this week in 1966 and spent a fortnight as the R&B chart No.1 as well.
Video
Lyrics
I need love, love to ease my mind
I need to find, find someone to call mine
But mama said you can’t hurry love
No you just have to wait
She said love don’t come easy
It’s a game of give and take
You can’t hurry love
No, you just have to wait
You gotta trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes
But how many heartaches must I stand
Before I find a love to let me live again
Right now the only thing that keeps me hanging on
When I feel my strength, yeah, it’s almost gone
I remember mama said
No, you just have to wait
She said love don’t come easy
It’s a game of give and take
How long must I wait? How much more can I take?
Before loneliness will ’cause my heart, heart to break
No, I can’t bear to live my life alone
I grow impatient for a love to call my own
But when I feel that I, I can’t go on
These precious words keeps me hanging on
I remember mama said
No, you just have to wait
She said love don’t come easy
It’s a game of give and take
You can’t hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes (gotta wait)
No love, love don’t come easy
But I keep on waiting, anticipating for that
Soft voice to talk to me at night
For some tender arms to hold me tight
I keep waiting, I keep on waiting (give and take)
But it ain’t easy, it ain’t easy when mama said
You can’t hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes
You can’t hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don’t come easy
It’s a game of give and take
You can’t hurry love
No, you just have to wait
Mama said just give it time