Mummy can't drive
There's too much inside
Come with me darling
She said, come with me darling
Mummy can't drive [Repeat x2]
She's been out all night
She can't see the stars
See the light
See the street
See the sky
See anything
Granny's crying
Grandpa's crying
Mummy can't drive(let me go, let me go)[Repeat x2]
She's been out all night
No, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no
She can't drive
Hey, stamp the sunshine out [Repeat x2]
"Hey, little boy", the sun cries out
Granny's crying(come with me darling)
Grandpa's crying(come with me darling)
Granny's crying(come with me darling)
Grandpa's crying(come with me darling)
Because mummy can't drive(let me go, let me go)
Mummy can't drive(let me go, let me go)[Repeat x4]
We've got to get out to survive(get out to survive)[Repeat x2]
You know mummy can't drive
Mummy can't drive [Repeat x3]
She's got a pistol on the side(she's got a pistol on the side)
You know mummy can't drive
Mummy can't drive [Repeat x5]


Lyrics submitted by Nevers0ul

Mummy Can't Drive Lyrics as written by Martin Edward Metcalfe Derek Kelly

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Mummy Can't Drive song meanings
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    General Comment

    A great song, I love how they use ambiguity by picturing an example of driving to convey the problem of drinking

    There's too much inside

    I agree with casper2095, on one hand it tells us she's drunk too much but I also think it lets us see the world from her point of view - she has so many problems that it is impossibly hard for her to stop drinking now

    Come with me darling She said, come with me darling

    Another ambiguity example - on one hand she wants her child to get into the car and go somewhere with her (I'll get to that later) but on the deeper level she introduces a child custody dispute as casper2095 has said. I think it also might mean she wants her child to understand her problem, that it's not so easy to stop drinking (depending on how old the child is)

    She can't see the stars See the light See the street See the sky See anything

    Literally it means she can't see properly when driving because of being drunk but when given more thought in my opinion each of these things she can't see tells us something different about her: stars - that tells us she can't see the beauty of life thus giving in to her alcoholic problem light - tells us she has no hope for the future which is later reinforced by the inability to see 'street' - when I hear 'street' in this case I think of a mother looking out the window at children playing. I think these two tell us she can't see a possible future where her and her child are happy together sky - that might also mean beauty of life but I think it also could mean she doesn't know her limit when it comes to alcohol (you know, sky is the limit) anything - a conclusion of all of the above and also reinforced how clouded the mind of a person addicted to alcohol, or actually anything, can be

    Granny's crying Grandpa's crying

    pretty straightforward but I just felt like reinforcing how tragic the situation must be from their point of view - an emotional fight between their love for their daughter and their grandchild - they can't really satisfy one of them without hurting another. if they take away the child from the mother she will start hating them but if they don't do anything about mother's problem it will lead to growing up of their grandchild in terrible conditions which is also shown by: 'Hey, stamp the sunshine out' I also like how the background singing ('let me go' and 'come with me darling' verses) can apply to both mother and child. First of all literally it reaches back to the idea of mother wanting to take her child for a ride but if we look at the situation from mother's point of view 'let me go' could mean that the battle between her addiction and what's good for everybody has been won by alcohol. 'Come with me darling' in this case could show Granny and Grandpa still believing it's not too late and trying to convince her daughter to stop drinking. However, if we apply these two to the child, 'let me go' could mean that her child wants to escape from the mother's problem by going to live with his (presumably) grandparents. 'Come with me darling' in this case would mean the mother still loves her child and begs him to go along with her.

    We've got to get out to survive(get out to survive)(2x)

    On the literal level it goes back to the idea of the mother wanting her child to go for a ride with her and the realization that this is physically dangerous but obviously that's not the main point. Again, this applies to all of the involved characters - if the mother's addiction isn't somehow stopped it will eventually lead to metaphorical death of her child (living in a broken home), herself (either literally death or seeing herself ruining her son's life) and the grandparents (basically seeing people they love being hurt so much) It perfectly shows how tragic this situation is and is further reinforced by:

    She's got a pistol on the side(she's got a pistol on the side)

    I think it refers to the mother having suicidal thoughts because of her situation.

    It's a great song and sadly many people, including me, can relate to this problem. Another beauty of such songs is that they can be pretty personal so everyone can react to them in a different way, this is my interpretation but I'm sure there are many more

    ShirleyAwesomeMansonon February 18, 2013   Link

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