Ride My See-Saw

With the understanding that songs are written by "stream of consciousness" more about feelings and subjective interpretation than narrative this song can only be interpreted in the context of the time it was written-this is my take on these lyrics.

The song is about what was called "dropping out" a person trapped in a life of cold comfort who against all logic wants to escape, offering his lifestyle, and encouraging other to give up materialism and tune in and drop out .... pursue a simpler life style (hippie).

I think this song is about the ups and downs of life.

I think the song is about the disillusionment that many people experience at different times in their lives. They simply no longer see the point. And its at this time that they turn to drugs (at least in this song). "take my place on this trip, it's for free" , a friend introducing the person to drugs for the first time. Basically he's being turned on to his friends old habit (his "seesaw").

good song.......I like the long version...where he is talking and then starts laughing like he is in a insane asylum....and then the song starts Riiiiidddee, Ride my See-saw.

Understated classic...this song must be experienced, not analyzed.

Need more be said!

I think most of the comments here are kinda over thinking the See-Saw. The See-Saw is really just the ups and downs of life...

I think that this song is about puting yourself in someones (whose life you think is better or easier) shoes but it's not what you think it'll be.

John Lodge (who wrote this) was hesitant about joining the Moody Blues due to the fact that he was afraid that it wouldn't go anywhere. He was studying Engineering (I believe), and so he put music on hold for a while to finish up his schooling. Luckily (for us), he eventually returned to the music and, well, here we are.

The whole "trip/seesaw" thing may refer to drugs, but I think it's more of the whole experience of rising stardom.

Ultimately, we don't know, do we?

The "see-saw" in the song is the wheel of karma. The Hindu ideal is to jump off the wheel of karma. It's easy, of course, to interpret this song in a more nutsy-boltsy way: The see-saw is the promise of the glories of "normal" civilized, urban life.

There's the direct angle that it has dawned on the singer that the see-saw is a losing proposition from a simple cost-benefit standpoint. But I like to think that this song ups the ante and goes for broke... and calls into question the most fundamental assumptions of human relationships and "civilized" existence.

When people talk about the old '60s rock'n'roll, what are they talking about? If you stand back and take in the big picture, one thing stands out: Rock'n'roll was very much a bold assault on the music marketing offices to reclaim romance from the suits. And Ride My See-Saw was very much an early marker of this budding trend. This new pop aesthetic dared to suggest that the cozy little normal life that modern society dangles before us, encouraging us to nestle in and raise our broods with smug assuredness, would not be the last word in self-actualization and fulfillment.

Of course, this couldn't last. In the end, people gave up trying to storm heaven, got both feet planted firmly on terra firma, and resumed the search for the perfect hamburger. But there was that brief window when we thought an alternative, workable set of values was within reach, and '60s rock'n'roll gave us the poetic images and ideas that gave hope to that enterprise.

And you should consider all this when you listen to "Ride My See-Saw"!

See-saw is a play on words, an invitation to open one’s eyes to what is going on not what one saw in the past ( school , career, boredom). “Turn on tune in and drop out”. Its Timothy Leary’s mind-set put to music.