High life
Mother Father please explain to me
Why the world's so full of mystery
A place so bitter and still so sweet
So beautiful and yet so full of sad, sad
Mother Father please explain to me
Why forests march to deserts be
Why snow capped mountains melt away
What do we tell our babies, what do we say
Oh
Mother Father please explain to me
How a man rocks his child to sleep
Pulls the trigger on his brother's heart
He digs a hole right to the middle of his storm of hatred
Mother Father please explain to me
How it could be so this world has come to be
A precious balance in between
Such cruelty and such kind
Please, please
Mother Father please explain to me
How this world has come to be
Unequaled in her blessings, oh I see
Unbridled hatred so extreme
Please tell me
Mother Father please explain to me
How this world has come to be so
Twisted between time and dreams
Oh Mother Father please explain to me
Oh what's all this talk about
All this talk about it
Spilling down, down, down, down, down
All this talk about
Endless words without
Nothings done
Mother Father do you know
Why one man's belly overflows
Another sleeps in hunger's bed
Oh, we trade our world for a piece of bread
Oh
Mother Father please explain to me
How this rare world's come to be
A place so full of color
and yet overflowing always in black and white
Drowning in the waters of our
Mother Father please explain to me
How this world has come to be
But still blessed in all the things we see
Such a sad, sad home for you and me
C'mon, adult
C'mon not you, c'mon not you
Come a save yourself
C'mon I'll do
C'mon, we're taken on water
We're taken on water, we're taken on water
But you know
We got the freedom!
We got the freedom!
There's no god above and no hell below
It's here with us, It's up to us
To keep afloat
How this sweet world has come to be
Oh, to keep afloat
Mother Father please explain to me!
How this rare world has come to be
Oh, the blue planet, the blue planet
Mother Father please explain to me
Mother Father please explain
Why the world's so full of mystery
A place so bitter and still so sweet
So beautiful and yet so full of sad, sad
Mother Father please explain to me
Why forests march to deserts be
Why snow capped mountains melt away
What do we tell our babies, what do we say
Oh
Mother Father please explain to me
How a man rocks his child to sleep
Pulls the trigger on his brother's heart
He digs a hole right to the middle of his storm of hatred
Mother Father please explain to me
How it could be so this world has come to be
A precious balance in between
Such cruelty and such kind
Please, please
Mother Father please explain to me
How this world has come to be
Unequaled in her blessings, oh I see
Unbridled hatred so extreme
Please tell me
Mother Father please explain to me
How this world has come to be so
Twisted between time and dreams
Oh Mother Father please explain to me
Oh what's all this talk about
All this talk about it
Spilling down, down, down, down, down
All this talk about
Endless words without
Nothings done
Mother Father do you know
Why one man's belly overflows
Another sleeps in hunger's bed
Oh, we trade our world for a piece of bread
Oh
Mother Father please explain to me
How this rare world's come to be
A place so full of color
and yet overflowing always in black and white
Drowning in the waters of our
Mother Father please explain to me
How this world has come to be
But still blessed in all the things we see
Such a sad, sad home for you and me
C'mon, adult
C'mon not you, c'mon not you
Come a save yourself
C'mon I'll do
C'mon, we're taken on water
We're taken on water, we're taken on water
But you know
We got the freedom!
We got the freedom!
There's no god above and no hell below
It's here with us, It's up to us
To keep afloat
How this sweet world has come to be
Oh, to keep afloat
Mother Father please explain to me!
How this rare world has come to be
Oh, the blue planet, the blue planet
Mother Father please explain to me
Mother Father please explain
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Mother Father Lyrics as written by David Matthews Glen Ballard
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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dave seems to be singing about how the world is so polar and full of hate and full of love
hes talking about how can we love so many things and adore so many things and at the same time hate this and hate that, very good song.
he means how can the world be so full of love and so full of hate all at the same time.
He seems to be having trouble seeing the world as one, when such extremes exist in it.
I am only re-iterating what is said above, really. thought-provoking.
I agree with everything stated. To me, Dave Matthews is questioning the world when someone can love so much, and yet hate so much. How can this be one big blue planet with a heaven and hell if so many people have such different opinions. Heaven isn't necessarily in the clouds, hell isn't necessarily below us. Both worlds are amung us in our world. I think Dave Matthews is trying to tell everyone that we don't live in a single world, but several worlds. One of hate, one of love, so on-so forth. Just my opinion. Either way, Great song.
-Beans
i think that he's saying that even though there is such hate in the world there is still love, even by the killers.
This song is just...wow. It is the truth....this world isnt good or bad it is just...the world? That makes no sense, I know...haha but seriously this is probably one of the truest songs I have ever heard...yea
I love this song. I think he is also pointing out that as children we may ask these questions, but as adults we accept certain things. When really the questions could still be asked.. "Why one man's belly overflows Another sleeps in hunger's bed"
I've listened to this song many times but just now listened to the message given by the lyrics. I think it is about how confused the world is "How this world has come to be so twisted between time and dreams...Oh, what's all this talk about?" and how the true meaning of life is within each person "There's no God above and no hell below oh, it's here with us it's up to us to keep afloat" and it is upon ourselves to make peace within.
i agree with everything said above and this is definatley one of my favorite songs. Dave Matthews is saying how strange it is that someone can do terrible things then turn around and do something good "How a man who rocks his child to sleep Pulls the trigger on his brother's heart" it shouldnt be possible for so much evil and so much good to be tied together in the world but it is possible and its true. how is it possible that one person has so much and another so little when neither have deserved anything more or less than the other? "Unequaled in her blessings" its such a true song.