Well I feel just like a child
Yeah I feel just like a child
Well I feel just like a child
Well I feel just like a child

From my womb to my tomb
I guess I'll always be a child
Well some people try and treat me like a man
Yeah some people try and treat me like a man

Well I guess they just don't understand
Well some people try and treat me like a man
They think I know shit
But that's just it

I'm a child
Well I need you to tell me what to wear
Yeah I need you to help me comb my hair
Yeah I need you to come and tie my shoes

Yeah I need you to come and keep me amused
From my cave to my grave
I guess I'll always be a child
Well I need you to help me reach the door

And I need you to walk me to the store
And I need you to please explain the war
And I need you to heal me when I'm sore
You can tell by my smile

That I'm a child
And I need you to sit me on your lap
And I need you to make me take my nap
Could you first pull out a book and

Read me some of that
Cause I need you to make me take my nap
And I need you to recognize my friends
Cause they're there even though

You don't see them
They got their own chair, plate, and a seat
You know I won't touch my food
Unless they eat

From the roof to the floor
I crawl around some more
I'm a child
And I need you to help me blow my nose

And I need you to help me count my toes
And I need you to help me put on my clothes
And I need you to hide it when it shows
From be my daddy's sperm

To being packed in an urn
I'm a child
And when I steal you gotta
Slap me til I cry

Don't you stop til the tears run dry
See I was born thinking under the sky
I didn't belong to a couple of old wise guys
From sucking on my mama's breast

To when they lay my soul to rest
I'm a child
Well I guess I'm always be


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

I Feel Just Like a Child Lyrics as written by Devendra Banhart

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

I Feel Just Like a Child song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

17 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think he points out that we should be more like children.. when it all comes down to it- "please explain the war!" Kinda like being loaded on ACID!

    tarzan05on October 28, 2006   Link

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

Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.