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My Father's Father Lyrics
I hear something hanging on the wind
I see black smoke up around the bend
I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home
The leaves have changed a time or two
Since the last time a train came through
I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home
My Father's father's blood is on the track
A sweat refrain drifts in from the past
I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home
The winding roads they led me here
Burn like coal and dry like tears
So here's my hope
My tired soul
And here's my ticket I want to go home
Home, home, home
I see black smoke up around the bend
I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home
The leaves have changed a time or two
Since the last time a train came through
I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home
A sweat refrain drifts in from the past
I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home
The winding roads they led me here
Burn like coal and dry like tears
So here's my hope
My tired soul
And here's my ticket I want to go home
Home, home, home
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I think the train is a metaphor for death. It doesn't make sense for a train to only pass through every few years, and it's the only interpretation that makes it not weird that John mentioned his father's father's blood being on the tracks.
I totally agree with this. Also the lines "my tired soul" and "the winding roads that led me here" makes me think its either an older person or someone that has been through a rough time like battling an illness.
I totally agree with this. Also the lines "my tired soul" and "the winding roads that led me here" makes me think its either an older person or someone that has been through a rough time like battling an illness.
As a side note it also kind of reminds me of that first episode of "Amazing Stories" with the old man with his ticket waiting for the train he had missed years before.
As a side note it also kind of reminds me of that first episode of "Amazing Stories" with the old man with his ticket waiting for the train he had missed years before.
I think it's about being away from your roots for so long and now, it's time to go back to the place that started everything.
To me, its a cleverly written song about love. “Ticket” means “love”, and “going home” is surrendering, mind and body, to wherever “love” will take you. The “train” symbolizes life’s many journeys, taking us from one “stop” or “moment” to another; from the difficult, painful ones, to life’s most beautiful moments. Its up to the passengers willingness to “buy the ticket” and board the train when it finally arrives. Its been a few years since a chance at love came around and you’ve been stuck at this station in complete disrepair, a time in your life full of “illusions, danger, and suffering”. But when the train comes by, this time, you’re finally ready to take on a new life journey. Even though it was hell getting to this point, what matters most is that you survived through it all and still “made it”. Finally ready for love.
Hope someone out there understands my interpretation! Truly one of my favorites :)
<3
<3
I think that "home" doesn't need to be a literal place. It could be a state of mind or some way of existing. In reference to the tracks and his Father's Father's blood, again I don't think it has to be literal; it could be some 'way' that his forefathers had lived.