I’ve been listening to this song for almost 40 years and it is still beautifully haunting. LABAT is about homelessness. It is about a man who is kicked out by his wife and, living on the streets, likens it to boyhood, Peter Pan fantasies. The “lights in pairs come passing by where I hide” is a reference to traffic he sees while camping secretly. Then “change in weather - rain pours down. My head in my hands…” reflects his growing misery at being outside. “And where am I supposed to go now?” is obviously his uncertainty about how long it’ll last. But he tries to make the best of it “singing a lullaby for me…”
The line that always threw me off was “I’ve been lost in so many places - seeking love in so many faces” doesn’t fit with the rest of the song or go anywhere, but it may reflect the reason why his wife kicked him out. Assuming the lyrics are tight and Pál and Morten didn’t take too many liberties, the line “one more time, living a boy’s…” means this has happened before or that he’s been homeless before.
I’ve been listening to this song for almost 40 years and it is still beautifully haunting. LABAT is about homelessness. It is about a man who is kicked out by his wife and, living on the streets, likens it to boyhood, Peter Pan fantasies. The “lights in pairs come passing by where I hide” is a reference to traffic he sees while camping secretly. Then “change in weather - rain pours down. My head in my hands…” reflects his growing misery at being outside. “And where am I supposed to go now?” is obviously his uncertainty about how long it’ll last. But he tries to make the best of it “singing a lullaby for me…”
The line that always threw me off was “I’ve been lost in so many places - seeking love in so many faces” doesn’t fit with the rest of the song or go anywhere, but it may reflect the reason why his wife kicked him out. Assuming the lyrics are tight and Pál and Morten didn’t take too many liberties, the line “one more time, living a boy’s…” means this has happened before or that he’s been homeless before.
[Edit: Adding a few thoughts]