What is this about?
Where is everybody going?
What am I doing here?
Can’t separate what I really need to know and
What I just want to hear
Maybe I’m alone maybe everybody’s lost too
Looking for a way out
Maybe I don’t know maybe I don’t even want to
Just don’t want to be let down
There is no sureness I kind of just stumbled along
There must be purpose in trying to keep on
What do I know? I’m a child
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
And I always feel like I did when I was younger
Can’t talk sense into me
How do you decide when to know or how to wonder
Or how to just get free
There’s no certainty, I kind of just stumbled along
Doesn’t bother me, I’m trying to keep on
What do I know? I’m a child
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
I seen both sides of it now
I’m not a child anymore
But I can stand in here
The way I did when I was a kid
What do I know? I’m a child
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
What do I know? I’m a child
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
Where is everybody going?
What am I doing here?
Can’t separate what I really need to know and
What I just want to hear
Maybe I’m alone maybe everybody’s lost too
Looking for a way out
Maybe I don’t know maybe I don’t even want to
Just don’t want to be let down
There is no sureness I kind of just stumbled along
There must be purpose in trying to keep on
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
Can’t talk sense into me
How do you decide when to know or how to wonder
Or how to just get free
There’s no certainty, I kind of just stumbled along
Doesn’t bother me, I’m trying to keep on
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
I’m not a child anymore
But I can stand in here
The way I did when I was a kid
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
What do I know? I’m a child
Just trying to talk like a mother does
Seeing life come and go all the time
It’s never as long as you wish it was
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
Maybe I’m still trying to see like a child does
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
It's about Lights' anxiety about being a mother, since she still feels like she is a kid herself.
Much of Little Machines was written and recorded while Lights was pregnant, and actually was recording vocals when she went into labor. I was actually surprised that there ended up being less references to motherhood, save for this song.
Anyway, I think the biggest giveaway to the meaning is "What do I know, I’m a child/Just trying to talk like a mother does" because here, Lights mentions "mother" as a subject, which in less geeky terms, simply means she is talking about herself as a mother.
Lights is concerned that, up to this point in her life, she has been the child -- innocent, naive, and looked after (in a mental extent -- she's in her late twenties and can most likely take care of herself physically). But now, carrying another human being, she realizes that she must mature mentally in order for her daughter to be safe, healthy, and most importantly, a child. It's scary, but Lights realizes she doesn't have to grow up; she just has to be mature.
I think she's done a great job -- Lights is a wonderful mother to her nearly two year old girl Rocket. What I wouldn't give to hang out with the Bokans, honestly.