This song is definitely about a parent, or to me I got the vibe of a mother, but that may just be personal bias because of my connection with Jack Johnson and my mom.
So first verse, "Your voice is adrift, I can't expect it to sing to me as if I was the only one" Means to me that his mother has passed on, he can't hear her voice anymore because she's gone, but her voice now is inside him and she speaks to everyone from her former life. Like how people will feel the presence of a loved one who's passed on.
Then,
"I'll follow you
The leaf that's following the sun
When will my weight be too much for you?
When will these ideas really be my own?
Cause this moment keeps on moving
We were never meant to hold on"
The leaf that's following the sun is the child following the parent. The line "When will my weight be too much for you" reminds me of a mother carrying a child and then caring for them and raising them. "When will these ideas really be my own?" is referring to when will Jack be old enough to have his own ideas? When will he be grown up and be able to live on his own without his mother there to support him. The "moment keeps on movin" because life goes on and "we were never meant to hold on" because we all pass on eventually and can't stay with our family forever.
The next verse is about when we grow up and have to leave our parents and their protection. "This was a scene worth waking up for" is about when we realize we have to leave our parents and how we don't want to, but want to at the same time. "When I woke up, you planted me in my own pot", is the mother giving her child, a.k.a "the leaf following the sun", their own environment to grow and thrive in. "When you said I will be lonely", the mother tells the child that they will feel alone sometimes, but "when you wake up, I will have become the sun". The sun that gave life to the leaf and that also planted the leaf in the pot so it could grow. Your mother is the sun that gave you life and raised you and loved you and that's shown in the lyrics because she'll "shine down upon you, as if you were the only one" because you're her baby and she always cared for you. There were plenty of leaves out there, but she always paid special attention to you, as if you were the only one.
Now that you are on your own "Your voice is your own" and you have to "sing a verse no one has ever known". You have to go out and make your way in the world by singing your own song, making your own life. Even though "I (your mom) can't protect it" your mom still wants you to not be "afraid to sing, cause no one ever sings alone". Then because you are your mother's baby and always will be "Your weight will never be too much for me" because she will always love you. "These ideas have always been your own" because your mom didn't force you to believe them, she just led you to them and you found them on your own. "But this moment keeps on moving, we were never meant to hold on"
This song is definitely about a parent, or to me I got the vibe of a mother, but that may just be personal bias because of my connection with Jack Johnson and my mom.
So first verse, "Your voice is adrift, I can't expect it to sing to me as if I was the only one" Means to me that his mother has passed on, he can't hear her voice anymore because she's gone, but her voice now is inside him and she speaks to everyone from her former life. Like how people will feel the presence of a loved one who's passed on.
Then, "I'll follow you The leaf that's following the sun When will my weight be too much for you? When will these ideas really be my own? Cause this moment keeps on moving We were never meant to hold on"
The leaf that's following the sun is the child following the parent. The line "When will my weight be too much for you" reminds me of a mother carrying a child and then caring for them and raising them. "When will these ideas really be my own?" is referring to when will Jack be old enough to have his own ideas? When will he be grown up and be able to live on his own without his mother there to support him. The "moment keeps on movin" because life goes on and "we were never meant to hold on" because we all pass on eventually and can't stay with our family forever.
The next verse is about when we grow up and have to leave our parents and their protection. "This was a scene worth waking up for" is about when we realize we have to leave our parents and how we don't want to, but want to at the same time. "When I woke up, you planted me in my own pot", is the mother giving her child, a.k.a "the leaf following the sun", their own environment to grow and thrive in. "When you said I will be lonely", the mother tells the child that they will feel alone sometimes, but "when you wake up, I will have become the sun". The sun that gave life to the leaf and that also planted the leaf in the pot so it could grow. Your mother is the sun that gave you life and raised you and loved you and that's shown in the lyrics because she'll "shine down upon you, as if you were the only one" because you're her baby and she always cared for you. There were plenty of leaves out there, but she always paid special attention to you, as if you were the only one.
Now that you are on your own "Your voice is your own" and you have to "sing a verse no one has ever known". You have to go out and make your way in the world by singing your own song, making your own life. Even though "I (your mom) can't protect it" your mom still wants you to not be "afraid to sing, cause no one ever sings alone". Then because you are your mother's baby and always will be "Your weight will never be too much for me" because she will always love you. "These ideas have always been your own" because your mom didn't force you to believe them, she just led you to them and you found them on your own. "But this moment keeps on moving, we were never meant to hold on"