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It Doesn't Mean a Thing (Bombastic Version) Lyrics
I never knew my mother
I can't say it was so bad
She was still a girl of seventeen the night she met my dad
He was just six months out of chino
Trying his hardest to stay clean
And they'd sing and they'd sing and they'd sing
Like doves sleeping with broken wings
In a bed fit for a king
It didn't mean a thing
It was shot gun forest wedding
And they forgot to bring the gun
As they were busy counting promises
To the children not yet born
No one could afford the ride
Everyone hitched up with the 101
And they'd sing and they'd sing and they'd sing
Like doves dancing with broken wings
With a view fit for a king
It didn't mean a thing
It was a loneliness
They would confess
Like the world had gone bad I guess
So they hold hands and look into the eyes of god
They'd say tell me why'd ya hide from us
Why'd ya fill the world with wickedness
Why'd ya spare us from the grace but not the rot
Now my dad says fuck the details
Just keep your head down hard
Ya got to find yourself alone before you'll find the eyes of God
You make broke and scared and out of jail
Out the flesh of your own heartstrings
But you were born to be a peasant not a king
So just stop acting like your running from something
Ya gonna leave the way you came without a thing
With your heart tattooed and your mind tied to a string
You just sing and you sing and you sing
It doesn't mean a thing
I can't say it was so bad
She was still a girl of seventeen the night she met my dad
He was just six months out of chino
Trying his hardest to stay clean
And they'd sing and they'd sing and they'd sing
Like doves sleeping with broken wings
In a bed fit for a king
It didn't mean a thing
And they forgot to bring the gun
As they were busy counting promises
To the children not yet born
No one could afford the ride
Everyone hitched up with the 101
Like doves dancing with broken wings
With a view fit for a king
It didn't mean a thing
They would confess
Like the world had gone bad I guess
So they hold hands and look into the eyes of god
They'd say tell me why'd ya hide from us
Why'd ya fill the world with wickedness
Why'd ya spare us from the grace but not the rot
Just keep your head down hard
Ya got to find yourself alone before you'll find the eyes of God
You make broke and scared and out of jail
Out the flesh of your own heartstrings
But you were born to be a peasant not a king
So just stop acting like your running from something
Ya gonna leave the way you came without a thing
With your heart tattooed and your mind tied to a string
It doesn't mean a thing
Song Info
Submitted by
ickythumpz On Mar 10, 2011
More The Airborne Toxic Event
Sometime Around Midnight
All I Ever Wanted
Wishing Well
Innocence
Happiness Is Overrated
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I don't know how true this song is, but either way it is a really good short song by TATE. Such wonderful lines like "It was shot gun forest wedding And they forgot to bring the gun" and "Now my dad says fuck the details, Just keep your head down hard, Ya got to find yourself alone before you'll find the eyes of God"
I really like this song. I can't wait until this CD comes out!
This is an excerpt from a an interview given by Mikel Jollett to Spinner about this song:
Airborne leader Mikel Jollett grew up as a poor child of itinerant hippie parents and his upbringing has had an effect on his songwriting. This song is about his father. Jollet told Spinner about his folks: "My dad did three years in Chino before I was born and when he got out, he got clean. He was on heroin and stole credit cards, all this s---, but he cleaned up. A lot of people don't and since I was born, he's been clean.
He has this way of thinking about life where it's just like 'If something's not good then just move the f--- down the road. Pack up and move to the next spot.' He's always sort of seen it that way. A lot of parents put a lot of head-trips on their kids that they've got to be a certain person to make their dads proud, like somebody spends all this time going to law school but they don't want to be a lawyer. I never felt that way for a minute. My parents were glad I did graduate from high school, but there was always a sense of 'Here's the world, do what you're gonna do. Try to do something important, stick around family, don't be an a-----e, maintain some humility and if your situation gets f---ed up, move down the road.'"