Most of us can’t even say the words i’ll love you forever i’ll love you for always without getting a little lump in our throats. It’s a gut reaction. You probably remember the rhythm of it—the way the mother in Robert Munsch’s classic book crawls across the floor, even when she’s old and shaky, to sing to her grown son. It’s sweet. It’s also, if we’re being totally honest, a little bit haunting.
But here is the thing that most people don't know: that song wasn't originally meant for a children's book.
Robert Munsch didn't sit down to write a bestseller about the "circle of life." He wrote those four lines as a silent, private memorial. For a long time, he couldn't even say them out loud. They were a secret between him and his wife, Ann, born out of a period of immense grief that most parents can't even bear to imagine.
The Heartbreaking Origin of the Lyrics
The poem—which eventually became the refrain i’ll love you forever i’ll love you for always—was actually a funeral song. Or a lullaby for babies who were never able to hear it.
Between 1979 and 1980, Robert and Ann Munsch suffered the birth of two stillborn babies. It’s a level of trauma that changes a person’s DNA. Munsch has spoken openly in interviews about how those two losses hovered over their lives. He had this little song running through his head as a way to grieve. It was his way of holding onto the children he never got to raise.
He didn't write it for us. He wrote it for them.
For years, he would perform stories at libraries and schools, but he kept those specific lines to himself. They were too raw. Eventually, he tried incorporating them into a story about a mother and a son. When he finally put it on paper and sent it to his publisher, they actually passed on it at first. They thought it was too "weird" or "creepy" that a mother would climb through a window with a ladder to watch her adult son sleep.
🔗 Read more: Pink White Nail Studio Secrets and Why Your Manicure Isn't Lasting
They didn't see the metaphor. They didn't see the desperation of a parent who just wants one more minute.
Why the "Creepy" Factor Actually Makes It Better
If you go on Reddit or Goodreads, you’ll find plenty of people who find the book Love You Forever a bit unsettling. Let's be real: a woman driving across town with a ladder on the roof of her car to break into her son’s house is objectively strange behavior.
But that’s exactly why the book works.
Parental love isn't always logical or "polite." It’s fierce. It’s obsessive. It’s a little bit crazy. By using such an extreme image, Munsch captured the feeling of a love that transcends boundaries—even the boundaries of adulthood and privacy. It’s about the refusal to let go. When you realize the lines i’ll love you forever i’ll love you for always were written for babies who died, the "creepy" ladder scene starts to feel more like a wish-fulfillment fantasy. It’s a dream of what could have been.
The Power of the Refrain
The structure of the song is what sticks in your brain.
- I'll love you forever
- I'll like you for always
- As long as I'm living
- My baby you'll be
Notice the distinction between "love" and "like." It’s a subtle touch. You can love someone because they are your blood, but "liking" someone for always implies a choice. It’s a friendship. It’s a bond that survives the teenage years when, let’s face it, parents and kids often don't "like" each other very much at all.
💡 You might also like: Hairstyles for women over 50 with round faces: What your stylist isn't telling you
A Legacy Beyond the Page
Since its publication in 1986, the book has sold over 30 million copies. It’s been translated into dozens of languages. It has become a staple at funerals, weddings, and graduations.
People use it to bridge the gap when words fail.
Interestingly, Robert Munsch himself struggled with his own mental health and addiction later in life. He’s been very transparent about his struggles with bipolar disorder and cocaine. Knowing that the man who gave the world the most "wholesome" nursery rhyme was also a man fighting deep, dark internal battles adds another layer of humanity to the work. It’s not just a "cute" book. It’s a lifeline thrown out by someone who knew what it felt like to be underwater.
The Sheila McGraw Factor
We also have to talk about the art. Sheila McGraw’s illustrations are what grounded the story. They have this soft, almost hazy quality that makes the whole thing feel like a memory. If the art had been too sharp or modern, the "stalker" elements of the plot might have felt too literal. Instead, the illustrations make it feel like a fable.
The color palette shifts as the son grows up, moving from the bright, chaotic yellows and blues of childhood to the more somber, muted tones of the ending.
The Ending Everyone Cries At
The climax of the book is a reversal. The mother is too old and sick to finish the song. The son, now a man with his own life, picks her up and rocks her.
📖 Related: How to Sign Someone Up for Scientology: What Actually Happens and What You Need to Know
He sings i’ll love you forever i’ll love you for always.
This is the moment that breaks people. It’s the realization that the roles of caregiver and recipient are temporary. It’s the "Great Handover." We spend the first half of our lives being carried, and if we’re lucky, we spend the last part of our parents' lives carrying them. It’s heavy stuff for a 32-page picture book.
Is It Still Relevant?
Some modern parents find it dated. They prefer books with more "boundaries" or updated parenting styles. But the sales numbers don't lie. Every year, a new generation of parents buys this book, reads it to their toddler, and ends up crying on the floor of the nursery.
It hits a primal nerve.
How to Share This Message Today
If you’re looking to use the sentiment of i’ll love you forever i’ll love you for always in your own life, don't just treat it as a quote on a Hallmark card. Understand the weight behind it.
- Acknowledge the Grief: If you’re gifting this book to someone who has lost a child or a parent, maybe include a note about Munsch's own history. It can make the gift feel more empathetic and less like a cliché.
- Make It a Ritual: The power of the book is in the repetition. If you have kids, find your own "song." It doesn't have to be Munsch's lyrics. It just has to be yours.
- Use It for Adult Transitions: This isn't just for babies. Sending a copy of the book (or just the quote) to a child moving out for college or getting married is a way of saying, "The dynamic has changed, but the foundation hasn't."
- Read the Backstory: If you ever feel like the book is "too much," go back and read Robert Munsch’s own account of his lost children. It will change the way you read every single page.
The legacy of these words isn't in the paper or the ink. It’s in the way they've become a shorthand for "I will not leave you." In a world where everything feels temporary, that's a pretty powerful thing to hang onto.
To really honor the spirit of the story, don't just say the words. Show up. Bring the ladder. Be there even when it's inconvenient or "weird." That is what the song is actually about. It’s about the endurance of the soul when the body starts to fail. It’s about a love that doesn't ask for permission to continue. It just does.