MGMT – Kids

beautiful, i thought the same thing. Kinda related......but it's really unfortunate that people don't do some inner thinking and find out what they truly want out of life. A lot of people don't express themselves to the full extent because they are afraid of the consequences. As a result, a lot of people join "cliques", become blissfully ignorant, and that's is where the mess begins. People are awesome, but they've managed to turn something so beautiful into a head case for some individuals. Life is full of learning, if we don't aspire to learn, we will never attain that close-to perfect feel we all want.

That's what i think when i hear songs like this

Right on the nose!

@MilkyLumpz yea, I thought this today too, and surround us with what motivates us and makes us happy

Yeah! I can totally see that

that really gives the song a new meaning to me, Dang son. I think that's a really good interpretation.
I love that book :)
and this song!

that is freakin brilliant

agreed.., and i havent even read the story.

That would give the whole "A family of trees" lyric a lot more sense.

Yeah, I see what you're getting at.

A praise-worthy find!

I've read that book a few times. It's my Mom's favorite book... it's very sad. I think that that theory could apply to "Control yourself, take only what you need from it..." But I still can't totally figure out "A family of trees wanted to be haunted..." Those are the only lyrics that still baffle me.

ah, i love your interpretation, that story holds so much meaning for me

yeah, i've read a bunch of places that this is the case.

@RLP: Family of trees is literally your family, especially your parents. They want to be haunted like the little boy haunts the giving tree in his youth. (Haunts is good).

@Dang son yeah, I was listening to this song while working out yesterday and all of the sudden I thought of "The Giving Tree" and I thought the songwriter just MUST have meant to make that connection. Funny how I never caught it in the hundreds of times I've listened to this song before.

Anyway, I came here to see if anyone else thought there was a giving tree reference.

Spot on mate! That's my take on the song also, I was thinking about earth and the environment when he says "take only what you need from it", Great minds think alike!

I think you are right as well. However, I think the lyrics are "a family of trees wanting, to be haunted." Meaning the trees wanting to be alone and uninhabited (like a haunted forest)

You're right on with everything else.....

I think "it's a family of trees wantin' to be haunted" is about the trees wanting the human race to go extinct so the trees, nature, gaia, can live again with simply the memory and ghosts of humankind.

That sounds right !

that was exactly what i've been thinking -- i hopped onto songmeanings just to confirm my sneaky suspicions!

This is how I interpreted it myself, except for "the water's warm, but it's sending me shivers". My take on this is that "the water is warm" this is typically synonymous with "hey everyone is doing it, so come on in", we are all fat cows using and abusing this earth, destroying the forests, the forests are calling to be haunted, calling for spirits to haunt us out of them. He recognizes that (like I do). It sends me shivers.

I agree as well. Though, sometimes I get a sense of the song being about humans and their own families and how we use eachother to find our own path in life without thinking of the feelings of others or how it may effect the world. This song makes me think about how I am taking my own existence for granted; as many do.

I had a similar take on this, except I thought "the water is warm, but it's sending me shivers" was a reference to global warming. Why would warm water give you shivers? Because it's not supposed to be warm.

good heavens. the past two days i've been thinking about humands and how the only enemie we truely have is nature....i listen to alot of music and just today ive heard several songs that ive listened to for years and never understood the meanings and they all talk about it.

it makes me want to watch the matrix again cause i've heard people say the whole film is a massive work of art but i was too young to understand; just thought it was something cool lol. the only bit i remember properley is agent smith saying mankind is like a disease

i laughed wen i heard this at first but it actually makes a bit of sense. Why all the references to childhood though?? Ur environment thing might be a coincidence

Matty1886: the only enemy we truly have is nature???????????????

I hope this is NOT what you wanted to say... it should be : the only enemy we have is the human being.
remind of the latin proverb " homo homini lupus' the human is a wolf to human. we write our own destiny, unlike less smart animals (and because they have less impact on their future).

NATURE IS NOT AN ANEMY TO THE HUMAN RACE BUT THE HUMAN RACE IS AN ENEMY TO BOTH, HUMAN RACE AND NATURE.

part of this song could be related to this, but what about the child then? crawling toward it?
it is not AS a child ( powerful CROs hungry for money in despite of environment) but you were a child. Nice lyrics because it touches every human...

the songwriters definitely need to comment here...

I think you're right, because the song was played at the end of the documentary Tapped, which is about the impact people have on the environment when they use water bottles. I was watching the documentary, and found myself dancing to the song, and I don't dance lol. It was so funny!

Yes, I think this is the song's main theme…and I have an interpretation of trees wanting to be haunted:

Only old, majestic trees can be described as 'haunted'..think about it, nobody calls young trees haunted…..so the trees want to be conserved…so that they might be 'haunted' some day…a whole family of them, wanting to live.

Love the song.

Yes! Glad I finally found someone who agreed with me. I think this whole album (Oracular Spectacular) is about humans destroying the Earth. It's clearer in the ending with "Peices of what" (Pieces of what we used to call home, Earth is now destroyed and the peices are falling from the sky onto wherever they are, then "Of moons, birds, and monsters, "Dont you know about the temperature change?.....Or hoping that an unknown force will repair things for you")

Yes! Glad I finally found someone who agreed with me. I think this whole album (Oracular Spectacular) is about humans destroying the Earth. It's clearer in the ending with "Peices of what" (Pieces of what we used to call home, Earth is now destroyed and the peices are falling from the sky onto wherever they are, then "Of moons, birds, and monsters, "Dont you know about the temperature change?.....Or hoping that an unknown force will repair things for you")

You definitely have the most correct answer than anyone else has said in reference to the meaning of this song. I think most people are getting too caught up in the song title "kids" and taking some words/phrases so literal (the video also may have been misleading and have this hidden message in it as well). But, obviously MGMT want people to think OUTSIDE THE BOX.

So, to help further this theory of the meaning of the song being about how humans are destroying the world. HERE IT IS...

Everyone keeps asking "what about the part about the child crawling towards it"... We are ALL GOD'S (The Father) CHILDREN. Therefore, all humans are being referred to as "KIDS". The reference to "Making momma so proud but we're still too loud"... is to MOTHER EARTH. And, how she loves us but we're still disrupting her peace. Remember, the Creation of Adam (humans) was by God and Earth (dirt). Although, I do not believe The Bible is to be taken to literal... point is, scientifically that has some truth to it because when we die our physical bodies turn to dirt and therefore we return to the earth. While, (more than likely) our spirits return to the overall Universe.

God (The Energy/Creator/Spirit) is the Father and Earth (The Physical/Caregiver/Nature) is the Mother. While we live on this planet we are combined by the two and therefore are a product of their united love... we our their children.

"The water is warm but is sending me shivers" could also mean from Mother Earth's perception that we are warm (we're made up of 80% of water, at birth/infancy. 70% as adults and the inside of our bodies are hot) but we're hurting her or even she feared something bad could come from this so it was sending her shivers. But "a baby is born crying out for attention" so she tends to it, nurtures it and helps it grow by providing all the things here on earth for us humans to survive... this is her decision. It was made out of love, not bought. But she thought this wouldn't hurt a lot, but she was wrong because look at what we're doing to her now.

HIDDEN MESSAGE IN THE VIDEO THAT HELPS SUPPORT THIS THEORY: The only part where MGMT show up in the video, they are in surrounded by Trees (Nature). In the song, they are speaking as though they are God & Earth (the Parents) telling us to control ourselves and be mindful of our actions. Especially in that certain part of the song its as though its Mother Earth speaking... so they made sure they were surrounded by trees and nature, representing her.

The rest of the video was monsters... media... power... control... money... TV that doesn't help teach us the right values, so we have also became thirsty, greedy, ruthless creations. We're all becoming the same monsters that is fed to us on these outlets without even realizing it, even when we try opposing this wrong doing in society. We ALWAYS still contribute to it, because we take small actions everyday that still continue to help fed the monster. Eating meat from McDonalds & other food places, then we say we would never torture animals nor do we believe in it. Not recycling, so trash like plastic ends up in the ocean which kills our planet everyday. That's why the beginning quoted Mark Twain's quote "He who fights with monsters might take care lest and therefore become a monster... and if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you."

Get it?

Also, we will eventually die and so will the Earth because of these decisions. The message in the video is simply to slow down and control ourselves (make wiser, deeper, more meaningful decisions), to help slow down this inevitable event. At the beginning of the video you see a sea of flames and fire... which it is thought that the world may end in fire. Possibly by nuclear war and bombs that can blow up most of the world. Or because of our eco-system and atmosphere being destroyed from our pollutions to the air and skies, the sun could eventually blaze the earth. Global warming. So, many ways we can end this world in fire due to our destruction of the earth. It also appears we're moving closer to the sun so this could also be the flames caused in event to this particular theory (of how the world will end) being prophesied. So, right at the beginning of the video while viewing the flames you hear someone say, "We're going to die".

Yes this is the meaning of the song. It is about controlling man kinds destruction of mother nature.

'The water is warm,
but it's sending me shivers.
" - refers to the global sea water increasing in temperature due to CO2 emissions that will eventually bring the ocean to a boil killing both the humans that started the pollution and every other living thing

of course the most important line is repeat a lot:

"Control yourself.
Take only what you need from it.
A family of trees wanting,
To be haunted.
"

Control ones actions and leave a minimal imprint on the environment. A family of trees wanting to be haunted. Think about it, a haunted house is a house that is rarely visited and not known about. This is how the rain Forrest would want to be viewed by humans, because humans come and slash and burn the whole forest without thinking.

@whir21 The thing about picking insects off of plants, for me, was also about how the little things kids do are so cute. Instead of thinking of consequences, they're curious. Like how kids'll look at the clouds or at lights. But then when you grow up, it's not cute coz it's a childish thing to do.
But I bet a lot of Americans would have a lot less stress if they took the time to just sit there like a kid when they have a break instead of checking their phone or the tv.
Either way it's bad for the environment, but that just makes the green movement futile - solar panels (or anything else) cannot make an unsustainable society somehow sustainable.

@whir21 The thing about picking insects off of plants, for me, was also about how the little things kids do are so cute. Instead of thinking of consequences, they're curious. Like how kids'll look at the clouds or at lights. But then when you grow up, it's not cute coz it's a childish thing to do.
But I bet a lot of Americans would have a lot less stress if they took the time to just sit there like a kid when they have a break instead of checking their phone or the tv.
Either way it's bad for the environment, but that just makes the green movement futile - solar panels (or anything else) cannot make an unsustainable society somehow sustainable.
The movie 12 monkeys has so many relevant quotes for this comment that you should really just check it out. And Fight Club.

You reasoning makes sense. But I would have to say they are just on drugs and probably just thought of the lyrics high or while tripping xD.

They might be wasted as hell and might not. The point CaitySheabell makes is what I take from the song as well. Songwriters take whatever the hell makes them write better, and for some its sobriety. See the "25 of 6 to 4" debate about "Chicago". I think they were tripping while writing the song, as its a dual meaning song IMO, and some say it has nothing to do with drugs. Brilliant if Im right.
Might I add my favorite part of this song "A family of trees wanted to be haunted". aka Humans can be disgusting and if you let your ego take over. So "Control yourself"!

I agree with most of what you say. my thoughts on "You were a child crawling toward it making mom so proud" could possible mean that you were on your way, people praised you. "But your voice was too loud" maybe you got a big head by all the attention. "Control yourself take only what you need from it" Don't get too carried away, only take the attention and praise you need. "We like watching you laughing picking insects off plants" maybe ignoring the problem, shoving them away "No time to think of consequences" the problems will come back.

it could also be about absolutely nothing at all. maybe they just thought the words sounded good when they were sung. more singers write lyrical nonsense than you might realize. I didn't think many did until I started writing songs and working with different singers, but a lot of songs have no meaning or close to no meaning.

i just wanted to expand on the "different stages of lif" idea...

i personally belive the message is trying to portray human gluttony. When we are children we do not experience any consequences for our wrongs that will have a lasting effect on our life. So I think that when the song thus says "take only what you need", it's explaining not to take thing in excess when we do wehn we are children because our parents won't always be able to clean up our own mess.

I agree completely. Only I allege the meaning goes much deeper than just experiences with family. I think "take only what you need from it" refers to taking only what you need from every experience in life. It's about letting go of things, instead of being "haunted" like other people allow themselves to be. At least, that's my interpretation. I believe everyone's opinions about these things are generally colored by what they're experiencing at the time they listen. For me, favorite songs I've listened to for years will reveal different meanings to the words, the more I hear it.

i think you are right =)

its also a recurring theme in MGMT songs, in time to pretend he talks of marrying models having children and then getting divorced. In the music video for kids the mother is a hot model archtype. Coincidence? i think not.

also i forgot to mention notice in the music video the woman's wedding rings are now on her right hand. The first stanza is in reference to parents being selfish: parents in the custody battle only see the things the child can provide for them not thinking of the consequences...

@dannyda1187 the quote is actually from Nietzsche. not sure why they misquoted it in the video. Mark twain was a contemporary of Nietzsche, so he may have repeated it in one of his works at one point. I think its more likely they misquoted for a reason, however. What that reason may be, though, i have no idea

Like :)