Oh Very Young Lyrics
You're only dancin' on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your dads best jeans
Denim blue, faded up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
(you know they never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still.
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven
And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
(you know you never will)
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still.
Will you ride, oh, oooh
You're only dancin' on this earth for a short while
Oh very young, what will you leave us this time
It’s a call to younger generations to “change your mind” from worrying (tossing and turning means worrying) about their own personal desires/dreams (because they won’t last) … and instead use their “short while” on earth to love and leave the world better … and thereby enter heaven.
Someone mentioned a Buddhist theme, but the emphasis of the Buddha was not much on leaving the world a better place, but rather on exiting the world. This song is far more of a Jewish-Christian message given that both of those wisdom traditions have a strong emphasis on making the world better. One of the biggest symbols in Christianty is the white dove, which is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the love that flows back and forth between God and Christ - and also the flow of love between God/Jesus and humanity. Also in many places the Bible says “God is love.” So the lyrics of: will you carry “love with you. Will you ride the great white bird into heaven?” is probably a reference to the holy spirit. Google “holy spirit” and click on Images and almost 100% are of white doves.
Likewise, both Judaism and Christianity emphasis that God expects us to make the world better, and convey that it affects whether we’ll get into heaven. It’s not the sole determinant, but it’s a factor. One example of many is in the passage about helping “the least of these,” Jesus says that those who don’t help people in the greatest need, they won’t access heaven. The Old Testament (Jewish sections before Jesus came) have similar themes.
Likewise, in Buddhism a person can only reach heaven through their own efforts and without divine help, and we must spend countless lives doing tons of meditation to work off all of our karma and to develop enough virtues to eventually reach heaven. But Christianity conveys that we can get there sooner and easier with God’s help (love’s help), and we can’t do it on our own. So “riding” another being into heaven is the opposite of what the Buddha taught, and matches exactly with Christian teaching.
The theme of not becoming attached to things is part of both Buddhism and Christianity. Cat’s parents were originally Greek Orthodox, but he was raised Catholic. They only attended church some of the time, so the family wasn’t very religious. But besides church, Cat said he also studied Christianity to some degree in school. So he would have been well aware of the meaning of a white dove. He did also do some reading about Buddhism, and that shows up in a few of his songs. But I don’t think this is really one of them. On the same album he has a song named “Jesus” in which he talks about both Jesus and Buddha.
He wrote this album a few years before he became Muslim, and said it was before he even considered Islam or read any texts of Islam. So that didn’t influence Oh Very Young or any of his well-known songs. He stopped singing soon after his conversion.
[Edit: Edited to add empty space paragraph returns between paragraphs.]
@supersan7 Very interesting. The background vocals also have a heavenly, divine quality.
@supersan7 Very interesting. The background vocals also have a heavenly, divine quality.
Oh very young what will you leave us this time Next generation, what will your legacy be, for the generation that is to follow you? you're only dancing on this earth for a short while You may now think you're invincible, but everyone dies. and though your dreams may toss and turn you now You might trouble yourself with the simple matters that seem so insurmountable today they will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans denim blue fading up to the sky And though you want him to last forever you know he never will (you know he never will) Daddy's best jeans, like all things, will surely fade.... Even the most durable will surely pass away. and the patches make the goodbye harder still These things and people will pass, no matter the care we take to preserve them; and in trying to save them, there may be more sorrow and bitterness at the vain efforts to make them last.
Oh very young what will you leave us this time Next generation, will you carry on with our wars and hate? there'll never be a better chance to change your mind You can pave your own way, if you so desire will you carry the words of love with you? will you ride the great white bird into heaven? Are you willing to make peace, and make peace and love the anchor for humankind? and though you want to last forever you know you never will (you know you never will) and the goodbye makes the journey harder still All things shall pass: will you worry about future generations, and what they've learned from you? Or will you be at peace?
@masterofreality I agree with much of your comments. But I disagree on the dichotomy you make at the end about the choice being between helping future generations vs. being at peace. I think another user here has it more right in that the choice is between pursuing and worrying about your own personal goals/dreams vs. focusing on love and making the world better for future generations. In other words, I agree with you that he’s calling for the listener to make love be the anchor for humankind. But the choice is between that anchor of love (that will last after...
@masterofreality I agree with much of your comments. But I disagree on the dichotomy you make at the end about the choice being between helping future generations vs. being at peace. I think another user here has it more right in that the choice is between pursuing and worrying about your own personal goals/dreams vs. focusing on love and making the world better for future generations. In other words, I agree with you that he’s calling for the listener to make love be the anchor for humankind. But the choice is between that anchor of love (that will last after they die) versus pursuing their own self-centered goals that are bound to fade.
I think further support for this is the fact that in most uses (like dream job, dream house, dream boyfriend, American dream, dream vacation, etc.) the word dream is usually used for things that personally benefit us, and not humanity overall. Given that the personal goals are going to die anyway, why not instead pursue “love” that will allow “the world to see a better day” and that will “leave” goodness that lasts after you’re gone from this earth? Doing that will also lead the listener to something else that will last after they die: heaven.
So however hard it is to say goodbye to our own concerns and goals, doing that and opting for love instead is the best path for humanity (a better world after we die) and also the best path for ourselves (heaven). The song is a rhetorical question in that Cat is very much conveying that love is the choice to make.
He is talking about the legacy we leave behind as humans, he was only in his twenties when he wrote this, he must be the most gentle songwriter ever born.
This song is a plea. It reminds me of the first ten of Shakespeare's sonnets. The words ask the "very young" person to examine himself and open his eyes to what his existance is actually producing. His likef is like the "morning mist"...mortal like the rest of us. I see the person being sung to as a reckless person who is living for himself, maybe not even hurting himself persay, but falling into the "get ahead" mentality, striving to make a buck, but not make much else. The singer is exposing this flaw to the young man pleading for him to use his potential before time runs out, because empty goodbyes are the hardest.
@MusicOfSilence I agree with you. As you said, it’s a plea for younger people to not live for themselves, to not focus on getting ahead etc. and rather to use their potential to make the world better and leave something for the next generation. Interestingly, for a long time in the US the focus was on the next generations and sacrificing for their good. This was partly due to the US having had such large immigrant populations in those days, as immigrants often focus on sacrificing for future generations. Then along came the “me” generation (which was people in...
@MusicOfSilence I agree with you. As you said, it’s a plea for younger people to not live for themselves, to not focus on getting ahead etc. and rather to use their potential to make the world better and leave something for the next generation. Interestingly, for a long time in the US the focus was on the next generations and sacrificing for their good. This was partly due to the US having had such large immigrant populations in those days, as immigrants often focus on sacrificing for future generations. Then along came the “me” generation (which was people in Cat’s generation), and the focus became far more so on pleasure and self-aggrandizement. It’s amazing that in his 20s, Cat was boldly calling this out to his generation. Unfortunately it largely fell on deaf ears, and still today mostly falls on deaf ears within all generations.
[Edit: weirdo sociopath]
of course as the album is "Buddha and the Chocolate Box" reincarnation theme
of course as the album is "Buddha and the Chocolate Box" reincarnation theme
I think I should take in this song, while I'm still young enough to GET IT.
I first noticed this song after my mother died - too young - in 1974, and have always associated it with her ever since.
I have actually selected this song to be played someday at my memorial service. (Hopefully many, many years from now.) "Oh, Very Young" contains a very positive, spiritual message about the impermanence of life and how important for us to show love to the people around you while there is still time. I especially love the lyrics: "You're only dancing on this earth for a short while," indicating that brevity of life. I also love the whole second verse. Every time I hear this song I get goosebumps while meditating on the implication of the lyrics and they're beauty. I wish more songs like this existed and more were being written today. True art builds up men's souls. Most of today's garbage tears us apart.
@RDM Good point about true art building up souls, which are the divine, spiritual parts of humans. Too much of today’s garbage either tears us apart or brings us down into unsoulful realms of greed, anger, lust, craving and or vengeance. One point I’d expand on is that I think Cat’s point is not just to love the people around us, but to love humankind overall including future generations that we’ll never meet. Much of the time being kind to people around us benefits us, but not humanity overall. Likewise, sometimes being kind to those around us hurts humanity...
@RDM Good point about true art building up souls, which are the divine, spiritual parts of humans. Too much of today’s garbage either tears us apart or brings us down into unsoulful realms of greed, anger, lust, craving and or vengeance. One point I’d expand on is that I think Cat’s point is not just to love the people around us, but to love humankind overall including future generations that we’ll never meet. Much of the time being kind to people around us benefits us, but not humanity overall. Likewise, sometimes being kind to those around us hurts humanity overall. Take for example a small town of middle-class racists: people who are blatantly racist. If they put a lot of their focus on loving each other, including putting their financial support and time towards helping each other in various loving ways, they’re having a bad impact in two ways: building up and making racists stronger and more powerful; and not helping people who need it far more.
I'm a doctor a child neurologist and spent a lot of time in neonatal ICUs in several big NYC hospitals. Lots of very very sick newborn babies. Many living for only a few days. I always thought of this song - ultimately, these babies leave us and their families a lot as they dance on this earth for a short while before riding the great white bird into Heaven.
@rosario101 By the way has this guy every written anything after 1970 that wasn't profoundly spiritual? There's nobody else in popular music quite like him. For my money he's Dylan-Politics+Spirituality and a lot less cryptic. He always seems to be on a spiritual quest. The world today needs more of this!
@rosario101 By the way has this guy every written anything after 1970 that wasn't profoundly spiritual? There's nobody else in popular music quite like him. For my money he's Dylan-Politics+Spirituality and a lot less cryptic. He always seems to be on a spiritual quest. The world today needs more of this!
You might say - well how about "Another Saturday Night" thats not very spiritual - but it's a Sam Cook song, of course.
You might say - well how about "Another Saturday Night" thats not very spiritual - but it's a Sam Cook song, of course.
As a tail end boomer I was too young to actually participate in the counter culture but found the hippies and the peace movement to be aspirational. When this song came out I kind of saw it as a challenge to the hippies. It seemed to speak of naïveté but also hope and the staunch reminder that your time is limited. Kind of like a if you’re going to do it, get with it.
I had a former boss just pass away and he was at the heart of the counter culture. Even though he rose to be a VP he kept his healthy distrust of administration and tried his best to keep the faith even he realized that he had become “the man”. Yes and patches made the goodbye harder still.