This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Come, they told me (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
A newborn king to see (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Our finest gifts we bring (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
To lay before the king (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
So, to honor Him (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
When we come
Little baby (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I am a poor boy too (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I have no gifts to bring (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
That's fit to give a king (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Shall I play for you (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
On my drum?
Mary nodded (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
The ox and lamb kept time (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I played my drum for Him (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I played my best for Him (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Then, He smiled at me (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Me and my drum
A newborn king to see (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Our finest gifts we bring (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
To lay before the king (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
So, to honor Him (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
When we come
Little baby (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I am a poor boy too (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I have no gifts to bring (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
That's fit to give a king (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Shall I play for you (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
On my drum?
Mary nodded (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
The ox and lamb kept time (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I played my drum for Him (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
I played my best for Him (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Then, He smiled at me (pa-rum-pa-pum-pum)
Me and my drum
Lyrics submitted by BigcSpaz504
Drummer Boy Lyrics as written by Henry Onorati Harry Simeone
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, INTERNATIONAL KORWIN CORP, Sentric Music, Anthem Entertainment
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is such an awesome correlation to the way our relationship with God should be.
"And if you have questions, we can talk through the night." We shouldn't ever be reluctant to question God, doubt God, or anything similar, as long as we have a heart that truly questions and desires answers.
"I've been where you're going" Christ and the Father know us so infinitely well. Not only did the Father fashion us together but He sent the Son to earth to experience everything we experienced. Christ experienced sadness, loneliness, joy, excitement, and a host of other human emotions.
"There will be liars and thieves who take from you Not to undermine the consequence But you are not what you do And when you need it most I have a hundred reasons why I love you"
Even sitting in class, I tear up reading these. God hears the cry of His people. He always has. When I cry out to God, He gives me "a hundred reasons" why He loves me, so to speak. Unbelievably beautiful song.
A simple song about the lessons of love, from a father to his son.
Yes I do agree, it's about lessons told by a father to his son.
My favorite part: "If you weather love and lose your innocence Just remember - lesson one"
I agree with the above posts, but I can't help thinking about my initial impression when I heard this beautiful song:<br /> <br /> Lesson one: "Do not hide"<br /> <br /> Genesis 3:8-10 (KJV)<br /> <br /> "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."<br /> <br /> Lesson 2: "There are right ways to fight"<br /> <br /> Genesis 4:8 (KJV)<br /> <br /> "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."<br /> <br /> <br /> Lesson 3: "You are not alone"<br /> <br /> Even after Adam & Eve disobeyed and were thus cast out of Eden, God was still with them.<br /> <br /> "You can leave, you can run, this will still be your home"<br /> <br /> Seems like the moral of the parable of the prodigal son. (Luke 15:11-32)<br /> <br /> I may be wrong, but I suspect this song has dual meanings and influences as many Jars of Clay songs do.
Ya its definitely about a father and son relationship. I saw them when they came to The Woodlands at the beginning of there tour (last weekend) and Dan talked to everyone about how the whole cd is about relationships and how they focused this song on a father-son relationship because those relationships are often overlooked and since all 4 members have sons now they wanted to share the importance of there relationships with them. Great song!!!
Opinion is all my own
First off and most importantly, you cannot ignore the FULL CIRCLE effect.
God > Jesus. Jesus > us. Our "Farther's" > Us. Us > God. Rinse and repeat. And even if one is not religious, it is hard to question the experience of those "above us" or who "created us... See it still works at each stage of builds.
And, it's about the power of going and growing through stages in life. The power of forgiveness is portrayed though common experience in first person. Which all of out "Father's" have. It shows how we can accept who we are, through who we want to be, no matter who we have been or currently are. So where do you want to be in the end...
So back to the circle as I round this off: Most compelling line that sums it all... happens to be AT THE END (which is also juxtaposing, cause a circle has no end, but nor does this "life"...).
"If you weather love and lose your innocence. Just remember - lesson one."
The end... now the beginning. (Alpha & Omega).
And whatever that loss of innocence might be... forgiveness, hate, change, love, grief... just remember....
You can finish the rest.