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Tell Me There's A Heaven Lyrics
The little girl she said to me
What are these things that I can see
Each night when I come home from school
And mama calls me in for tea
Oh every night a baby dies
And every night a mama cries
What makes those men do what they do
To make that person black and blue
Grandpa says their happy now
They sit with God in paradise
With angels' wings and still somehow
It makes me feel like ice
Tell me there's a heaven
Tell me that it's true
Tell me there's a reason
Why I'm seeing what I do
Tell me there's a heaven
Where all those people go
Tell me they're all happy now
Papa tell me that it's so
So do I tell her that it's true
That there's a place for me and you
Where hungry children smile and say
We wouldn't have no other way
That every painful crack of bones
Is a step along the way
Every wrong done is a game plan
To that great and joyful day
And I'm looking at the father and the son
And I'm looking at the mother and the daughter
And I'm watching them in tears of pain
And I'm watching them suffer
Don't tell that little girl
Tell me
Tell me there's a heaven
Tell me that it's true
Tell me there's a reason
Why I'm seeing what I do
Tell me there's a heaven
Where all those people go
Tell me they're all happy now
Papa tell me that it's so
What are these things that I can see
Each night when I come home from school
And mama calls me in for tea
Oh every night a baby dies
And every night a mama cries
What makes those men do what they do
To make that person black and blue
Grandpa says their happy now
They sit with God in paradise
With angels' wings and still somehow
It makes me feel like ice
Tell me that it's true
Tell me there's a reason
Why I'm seeing what I do
Tell me there's a heaven
Where all those people go
Tell me they're all happy now
Papa tell me that it's so
That there's a place for me and you
Where hungry children smile and say
We wouldn't have no other way
That every painful crack of bones
Is a step along the way
Every wrong done is a game plan
To that great and joyful day
And I'm looking at the mother and the daughter
And I'm watching them in tears of pain
And I'm watching them suffer
Don't tell that little girl
Tell me
Tell me there's a heaven
Tell me that it's true
Tell me there's a reason
Why I'm seeing what I do
Where all those people go
Tell me they're all happy now
Papa tell me that it's so
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I would agree with rich20b - this is a song about domestic violence, about children who are physically abused and eventually killed, by family members.
It's about a man who, like the 'little girl' (his daughter?), is appalled by man's cruelty. Both the little girl and the man desperately need to believe that the suffering is part of an overall plan for eternal happiness for all of us. But whereas the little girl will accept that there's a heaven, if Grandpa tells her that it's true, the man knows that it's probably not true, and desperately wishes he could believe it ('don't tell that little girl, tell me').
Line 9 ("Grandpa says....") sends chills down my spine. What a brilliant song.
This song is blatently about war and suffering.
The little girl comes home from school and see's war and starvation on the television and can't understand it all. She asks her father why people do this to each other, whilst grampa says not to worry about it - they are in heaven now where nobody can hurt them.
The father is then tied whether he should tell his daughter (the little girl) that what grampa says is correct and that "there's a place for me and you", and that everything that happens is part of some master plan - "to that great and joyful day".
In the last but one verse it comes back around to the father himself doubting whether it is true. He is watching the suffering and wondering himself what it is all for - "don't tell that little girl, tell me"
That's my interpretation. Great song!
Another thing
Domestic violence?
Whichever way this song is interpreted, it is utterly brilliant, and surely brings a lump to the throat and tear to the eye of even the hardest hearted person!
This is a bittersweet song about war I reckon but it's 1 of the greatest songs of all time and should be far more well known It would have been Number 1 for weeks even at 6:00 long but you never realise that it is 6 minutes long you'd think it's about 5
I just love this song! And your interpetations are correct;)
Rea incorporates a lot of true happenings in his life into the lyrics of his songs. "Stainsby Girls" is for his wife Joan, both "Josephine" and "Julia" were for his daughters. I read once that "Tell Me There's a Heaven" was written after one of his daughters (I think the oldest) was watching a newscast about the Romanian AIDs babies. They were bruised from the disease and dying; and her grandfather was trying to help her make sense of it. But a telecast about domestic abuse or war all could lead to the same kind of lyrics. That whole album will cause people to wonder what they've been missing for 20 years if they're not familiar with him.
I think its simply about how we as humans observe suffering in the world and wonder if there can be any meaning to life. Then the writers thoughts turn to the existence of God and a better life in eternity, because if there is not then obviously there is no meaning to life.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporals_killings
Inspired by this event - shocking at the time and shown on the 6 o clock news.