Cutting Crew

One for the Mockingbird

1 Meaning

Add Yours

Q&A

One for the Mockingbird Lyrics

I have learned through all my past mistakes
Not to let the hurdles sap my energy
Time will tell and time is all it takes
You won't see the bastards knock the
running out of me

And the band, they played one more song
One for the mockingbird, they played one more song
All the tears, they fell one by one
All for the mockingbird, they fell one by one

Don't be fooled by those who fear you words
They just twist and tighten up the tourniquet
But the sweetest song of all the mockingbirds
Couldn't hope to match one note of any song we played

And the band, they played one more song
One for the mockingbird, they played one more song
All the dreams, they broke one by one
All for the mockingbird, they broke one by one

Ooh
What are you hiding from?
Ooh
Why do you lock the door?
Open up the door!

The band, they played one more song
One for the mockingbird, they played one more song
All the tears, they fell one by one
All for the mockingbird, they fell one by one

I have learned, time will tell, years will pass, tears will fall,
Don't be fooled, led by words, their sweet songs,
Mockingbirds...
No no no no no no...
No no no no no no...

Submitted by

klr65 On Apr 28, 2006

(I Just) Died in Your Arms

I've Been in Love Before

Any Colour

The Broadcast

Brag

I have learned through all my past mistakes
Not to let the hurdles sap my energy
Time will tell and time is all it takes
You won't see the bastards knock the 
running out of me

And the band, they played one more song
One for the mockingbird, they played one more song
All the tears, they fell one by one
All for the mockingbird, they fell one by one

Don't be fooled by those who fear you words
They just twist and tighten up the tourniquet
But the sweetest song of all the mockingbirds
Couldn't hope to match one note of any song we played

And the band, they played one more song
One for the mockingbird, they played one more song
All the dreams, they broke one by one
All for the mockingbird, they broke one by one

Ooh
What are you hiding from?
Ooh
Why do you lock the door?
Open up the door!

The band, they played one more song
One for the mockingbird, they played one more song
All the tears, they fell one by one
All for the mockingbird, they fell one by one

I have learned, time will tell, years will pass, tears will fall,
Don't be fooled, led by words, their sweet songs,
Mockingbirds...
No no no no no no...
No no no no no no...

Lyrics saved successfully! Thanks!

These lyrics are currently locked and can only be edited by moderators and administrators.

You must be logged in to edit lyrics.

Unable to save lyrics. Please try again.

Lyrics cannot contain links.

Lyric edit submitted successfully and is pending approval. Approvals usually take 24 hours.

Keep it true to the song

Fix what’s wrong, but don’t rewrite what the artist wrote. Stick to the official released version — album booklet, label site, verified lyric video, etc. If you’re guessing, pause and double-check.

Respect the structure

Songs have rhythm. Pages do too. Leave line breaks where they belong. Don’t smash things together or add extra empty space just for looks.

Punctuation counts (but vibe-editing doesn’t)

Correct typos? Yes. Re-punctuating a whole verse because it ‘looks better’? Probably not. Keep capitalization and punctuation close to the official source.

Don’t mix versions

If you’re editing the explicit version, keep it explicit. If it’s the clean version, keep it clean. No mashups.

Let the lyrics be lyrics

This isn’t the place for interpretations, memories, stories, or trivia — that’s what comments are for. Keep metadata, translations, and bracketed stage directions out unless they’re officially part of the song.

Edit lightly

If two lines are wrong… fix the two lines. No need to bulldoze the whole page. Think ‘surgical,’ not ‘remix.’

When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

KLR65

Submitter

2006-04-28 01:30:46

1 Meaning

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Sort by

by lyricalONE

14y ago

This song, from the mid 1980's, is still relevant today and is slam on critics like Simon Cowell (X-Factor; Idol).

This song is probably about when the songwriter was a struggling musician and got cut down by music critics (the mocking birds). Perhaps he had people saying his band would fail. He made the "past mistakes" of paying attention to them (now he knows better). Other musicians had their hearts and careers broken by mocking birds ("tears" and "dreams, they broke one-by-one, all for the mocking bird."). Yet his band "played one more song," despite the nay-sayers, until they made it.

"But the sweetest sound of all the mockingbirds / Couldn't hope to match one note of any song we played" brings up that while music critics may play instruments, they are mostly not performing musicians. As the lyrics say, after years pass that "time will tell" ... not any music critic.

My Interpretation

Users:

Reply · 1 Share

by BDoug52 1y ago

@lyricalONE Very good analysis!

Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.