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.
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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dave seems to be singing about how the world is so polar and full of hate and full of love