This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Dana, my darling, I'm writing to you.
Cause your father passed away, it was a beautiful day
And I don't want to bother You anymore,
I used to hope you'd come back
But not anymore Dana.
My eyes might have betrayed me, but I have seen
Your picture on the cover of a filthy magazine
And I think my heart just cannot handle that
Dana, my darling, would be so bad.
Dana my darling I'm writing to you
Your mother passed away it was a really rainy day
And I didn't mean to bother you anymore
Your mother wished: Come visit your fathers grave, Dana
Your father disowned you because you have sinned
But he did forgive you in condition he was in
And I you won't do those things anymore
Dana My darling I'm waiting for
Dana O'Hara oh, Dana my dear,
How I wish that my Dana was here
Little Dana O'Hara decided one day
To travel away, faraway
No, you can't surprise me anymore
I have seen it all before
But it seems I cannot let you go
Anyhow, Dana, Dana, Dana, Dana
And I think that I told you, I'd wait for you forever
Now I know someone else's holding you,
So, for the first time in my life - I must lie
Lie's a sin, mess that I am in,
Love is not the thing I feel know
I promise you: I won't write again 'til the sun sets
Behind your grave
Dana, oh, Dana I'm writing to you, I heard you passed
Away it was a beautiful day
I'm old and I feel time will come for me, my diary's
Pages are full of thee
Dana O'Hara oh, Dana my dear,
How I wish that my Dana was here
Little Dana O'Hara decided one day
To travel away, far away
Cause your father passed away, it was a beautiful day
And I don't want to bother You anymore,
I used to hope you'd come back
But not anymore Dana.
My eyes might have betrayed me, but I have seen
Your picture on the cover of a filthy magazine
And I think my heart just cannot handle that
Dana, my darling, would be so bad.
Dana my darling I'm writing to you
Your mother passed away it was a really rainy day
And I didn't mean to bother you anymore
Your mother wished: Come visit your fathers grave, Dana
Your father disowned you because you have sinned
But he did forgive you in condition he was in
And I you won't do those things anymore
Dana My darling I'm waiting for
Dana O'Hara oh, Dana my dear,
How I wish that my Dana was here
Little Dana O'Hara decided one day
To travel away, faraway
No, you can't surprise me anymore
I have seen it all before
But it seems I cannot let you go
Anyhow, Dana, Dana, Dana, Dana
And I think that I told you, I'd wait for you forever
Now I know someone else's holding you,
So, for the first time in my life - I must lie
Lie's a sin, mess that I am in,
Love is not the thing I feel know
I promise you: I won't write again 'til the sun sets
Behind your grave
Dana, oh, Dana I'm writing to you, I heard you passed
Away it was a beautiful day
I'm old and I feel time will come for me, my diary's
Pages are full of thee
Dana O'Hara oh, Dana my dear,
How I wish that my Dana was here
Little Dana O'Hara decided one day
To travel away, far away
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I very much agree on you rebelj1, this is how I see it;
"And I don't want to bother You anymore”, I bet this would be a line he used in all his letters, doing something he doesn’t want to do but he has to do it because he is totally obsessed and he’s saying stuff like “I used to hope you'd come back, But not anymore Dana" just because he’s trying to convince himself he’s over her while he clearly isn’t. Saying “My eyes might have betrayed me, but I have seen, Your picture on the cover of a filthy magazine”, he knows he has seen it but still he’s protecting the nice image he has of her inside his mind. He even admits that “I think my heart just cannot handle that”, which is the reason to doubt his own eyes. I myself have wanted a girl because I thought she was what I wanted but in reality the person I saw was only fantasy…
"And I didn't mean to bother you anymore”, see; he’s saying it again because he’s still obsessed and uses the information he has about her family to contact her. I think it’s like being a stalker. He’s trying to make advantage of her weak moments to show her he’s there for her and in these deaths he finds a reason good enough for him to contact her.
”Now I know someone else's holding you; so, for the first time in my life - I must lie”, I think his lie is that he will tell her he’s happy for her that she’s with some one else now and he also lies that he doesn’t love her anymore while he had said he would wait for ever. It could be that he sticks only to these few letters but I doubt it, although he does have a psycho like diary filled with pages of a girl that doesn’t want him.
"Dana, oh, Dana I'm writing to you, I heard you passed away it was a beautiful day, I'm old and I feel time will come for me”, seems a bit like saying the two belong to be together and when one dies the other will die soon aswell. But it also seems a bit strange because the chances of her reading this letter are as big as the chances of her reading his diary which could mean his obsession drove him a bit crazy…
This song and “Shy” are my favourite Sonata Arctica songs even though both songs seem very obsessed. This Dana sounds like a very special person which makes me curious about her. Btw; LOL rebelj1, you explained it from your point of few and I did from mine; kinda says what I’m like ^^