In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
My baby needs a shepherd
She´s lost out on the hill
Too late I tried to call her
When the night was cold and still
And I tell myself I´ll find her
But I know I never will
My baby needs a shepherd
She´s lost out on the hill
My baby needs an angel
She never learned to fly
She´ll not reach sanctuary
Just by looking to the sky
I guess I could have carried her
But I didn't even try
My baby needs an angel
She never learned to fly
Oh I ran so far through a broken land
I was following that drummer
Beating in a different band
And somewhere on the highway
I´let go of her hand
Now she´s gone forever
Like her footprints in the sand
Toora loora loora lo
First the seed and then the rose
Toora loora loora li
My kingdom for a lullaby
My baby needs a pilot
She has no magic wand
To help her part the troubled waters
Of the Rubicon
But in my soul I know she´ll
Have to go this one alone
After all that is only way she´s ever known
But there is no lamp in all this dark
That could chase away her shadow
From the corners of my heart
I pray she´s ride a dolphin
But she´s swimming with the shark
Out where none can save her
Not even Noah and his ark
Toora loora loora lo
To the cradle comes the crow
Toora loora loora li
My kingdom for a lullaby
My baby needs a mother
To love her till the end
Up every rugged mountain
And down every road that bends
Sometimes I hear her cryin'
But I guess it´s just the wind
My baby needs a mother
To love her till the end
She´s lost out on the hill
Too late I tried to call her
When the night was cold and still
And I tell myself I´ll find her
But I know I never will
My baby needs a shepherd
She´s lost out on the hill
My baby needs an angel
She never learned to fly
She´ll not reach sanctuary
Just by looking to the sky
I guess I could have carried her
But I didn't even try
My baby needs an angel
She never learned to fly
Oh I ran so far through a broken land
I was following that drummer
Beating in a different band
And somewhere on the highway
I´let go of her hand
Now she´s gone forever
Like her footprints in the sand
Toora loora loora lo
First the seed and then the rose
Toora loora loora li
My kingdom for a lullaby
My baby needs a pilot
She has no magic wand
To help her part the troubled waters
Of the Rubicon
But in my soul I know she´ll
Have to go this one alone
After all that is only way she´s ever known
But there is no lamp in all this dark
That could chase away her shadow
From the corners of my heart
I pray she´s ride a dolphin
But she´s swimming with the shark
Out where none can save her
Not even Noah and his ark
Toora loora loora lo
To the cradle comes the crow
Toora loora loora li
My kingdom for a lullaby
My baby needs a mother
To love her till the end
Up every rugged mountain
And down every road that bends
Sometimes I hear her cryin'
But I guess it´s just the wind
My baby needs a mother
To love her till the end
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I think this song is a song from a mother who gave her baby up for adoption. definitely a song full of regret
I don't think it is about someone who gave up a baby for adoption or abortion although I can see how you can see it that way. I think it is about someone who had a child when they were really young or not ready to have children. Now the child is an adult and the mother wants to have a closer relationship with their child but the child doesn't want to. Maybe because they think if you weren't there for me then why would you now. But it is def full of regret.
Also nice backup vocals by Patty Griffin. Who you should all be listening to if your not already! ;o) Patty is so talented!
I think its about either abortion or stillbirth. that's just what I think of when I hear the lyrics. The song has helped me cope with such an event, and because I'm a private person I use song lyrics many times if I don't want to go into too much detail if I'm having a hard time with things. This works great on facebook as I've quoted certain verses in this song on more then one occasion.
I think its about either abortion or stillbirth. that's just what I think of when I hear the lyrics. The song has helped me cope with such an event, and because I'm a private person I use song lyrics many times if I don't want to go into too much detail if I'm having a hard time with things. This works great on facebook as I've quoted certain verses in this song on more then one occasion.
My feeling is that she is singing about herself. The verse about chasing the drummer playing in a different band. Definitely regret and sadness, but honestly, I think she is saying she was not a good mother to her baby.
Could this one be about a woman who now regrets the abortion she has had? It works almost perfectly when read this way. The line "Toora loora loora lo" is a reference to an old lullaby and "My kindom for a lullaby" seems a reference to Shakespeare's Richard III where King Richard III is unhorsed on a battlefield and knows he will die unless he gets a horse (My kingdom for a horse). He doesn't get a horse and he does, in fact, get killed.
A powerful song.