In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
You're a precious stone
You're out on your own
You know everyone in the world
But you feel alone
Daddy won't let you weep
Daddy won't let you ache
Daddy gives you as much as you can take
A-ha sha-la, a-ha sha-la
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
A little uptight
You're a baby's fist
Butterfly kisses up and down your wrist
When you see daddy coming
You're licking your lip
Nails bitten down to the quick
A-ha sha-la, a-ha sha-la
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
You've got a head full of traffic
You're a siren's song
You cry for mama
And daddy's right along
He gives you the keys to a flamin' car
Daddy's with you wherever you are
Daddy's a comfort
Daddy's your best friend
Daddy'll hold your hand right up to the end
A-ha sha-la, a-ha sha-la
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday's
Alright...
You're out on your own
You know everyone in the world
But you feel alone
Daddy won't let you weep
Daddy won't let you ache
Daddy gives you as much as you can take
A-ha sha-la, a-ha sha-la
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
A little uptight
You're a baby's fist
Butterfly kisses up and down your wrist
When you see daddy coming
You're licking your lip
Nails bitten down to the quick
A-ha sha-la, a-ha sha-la
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
You've got a head full of traffic
You're a siren's song
You cry for mama
And daddy's right along
He gives you the keys to a flamin' car
Daddy's with you wherever you are
Daddy's a comfort
Daddy's your best friend
Daddy'll hold your hand right up to the end
A-ha sha-la, a-ha sha-la
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday's
Alright...
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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Great version of a great song,
Plastic Bag
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Ed Sheeran
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WOW! I'm not surprised to see the high intellect of U2 followers...I mean fans.
Good conversations about whether it's about God or the devil or Russia or Consumerism or heroin or spoiled brats. Makes me agree with some other posts that it is eternally layered in meaning (as most art)--it is all present.
I love the song because it invokes the memory of seeing Bono as McPhisto in all his glamorous glory onstage at the ZooTV concert I went to so very long ago. When I bought my new car, it was the first song I played in it because the irony took me to a whole new level of elation.
This is one of those songs that for me the meaning changes as my experiences change me. Each time I reapproach it, it means something different to me based on the place I am in. When I was a teenager, I saw the devil as Daddy and his empty, attractive promises. When I was in college, I saw more of the "heroin interpretation" for instance, "You got a head full of traffic/ You're a siren's song/ You cry for momma, but daddy's right along." You can't always get what you want and what you want is most likely as deadly as the siren's song. Now that I'm in the family thing, I see it on a multi-layered level, and really groove to the sound. Who can resist the "Uh-huh/Sha-La/Uh-huh/Sha-La" ?!
Crashed car represents a broken person. We leave that vehicle behind, death to self, and start the new life. Daddy of course is God.
When daddy pays for crashed car, he brings us to a place where we realize what we had to let go of, namely the things that were holding us back spiritually.
it's about a father babying his daughter and her never becoming independant as a result. start w/ that meaning then think about it some more...
it's about drugs, daddy is your dealer
Though I think it's most likely sung from the perspective of the devil, I think it could also be about East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"You cry for mama, and daddy's right along " East germany looking for help from Mother Russia but West Germany coming to aid instead
"Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car" Daddy (Germany) is going to pay for the East's crashed economy
Plus, the "crashed car" could also be seen as referring to the Trabant, the East German-made car that thosands of East Germans abandoned at roadsides (crashed) when the Berlin Wall fell.
Keeping in mind that it's Bono, this song sounds like Daddy is a metaphor for God looking out for his children.
Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car... Daddy's with you whereever you are...
Sounds to me like the concept of God offering redemption to one of his lost.
Could be just what it says tho.
I agree with you. My favorite line is, "Daddy gives you as much as you can take." Alot of Saints have said in one way or another that God only gives us what we can handle.
This song just blew me away as did the whole Zooropa album. The sounds and the lyrics all point to something very sinister.. The notion that Daddy will keep enabling your habits until the very end. Zooropa was the "Channel Flicking" Zoo TV album of disassociation and numbness where you've seen everything and felt nothing. Daddy is at the centerpiece of this apathy. Awesome song!
I read something somewhere about it being about "The dark world of smack addiction", but who knows.
There is no way this song is about God. Read the lyrics. Does this sound like any God you know?
This song is about the DEVIL. This is the evilest song on Zooropa. It comes right after Stay for a reason. When you are down on your luck and depressed, who's there to comfort you? Satan. This is definitely what the song is about. I read that when Bono performed this song on tour, he always wore his MacPhisto getup.
Read C.S. Lewis' 'The Screwtape Letters'.
Bono has said that this song is about legendary blues singer John Lee Hooker.