This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mother told me, yes she told me
I'd meet girls like you
She also told me stay away
You'll never know what you'll catch
Just the other day I heard
Of a soldier's falling off
Some Indonesian junk
That's going 'round
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Father says your mother's right
She's really up on things
Before we married Mommy served
In the WACs in the Philippines
Now I had heard the WACs recruited
Old maids for the war
But Mommy isn't one of those
I've known her all these years
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Whatever happened to all this season's
Losers of the year
Every time I got to thinking
Where'd they disappear
Then I woke up, Mom and Dad
Are rolling on the couch
Rolling numbers, rock and rolling
Got my Kiss records out
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
I'd meet girls like you
She also told me stay away
You'll never know what you'll catch
Just the other day I heard
Of a soldier's falling off
Some Indonesian junk
That's going 'round
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Father says your mother's right
She's really up on things
Before we married Mommy served
In the WACs in the Philippines
Now I had heard the WACs recruited
Old maids for the war
But Mommy isn't one of those
I've known her all these years
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Whatever happened to all this season's
Losers of the year
Every time I got to thinking
Where'd they disappear
Then I woke up, Mom and Dad
Are rolling on the couch
Rolling numbers, rock and rolling
Got my Kiss records out
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Surrender, surrender (Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright)
But don't give yourself away
Lyrics submitted by angelvamp13
Surrender Lyrics as written by Rick Nielsen
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Okay, here's what "Surrender" really means. It's such an awesome song, especially if you're a grown-up or a smart enough teenager.
I'll go verse by verse.
Mother told me, yes, she told me I'd meet girls like you. She also told me, "Stay away, you'll never know what you'll catch. Just the other day I heard a soldier's _ falling off Some Indonesian junk that's going round."
I corrected the placement of the quotations marks to make more sense. This verse is now pretty self explanatory. A young boy is talking to a girl (probably first encounter w/ opposite sex) and recalling his mother's "urban legend" warnings about STD's....Soldier's <blank> falling off.
I'll get to the chorus later...it'll make more sense.
Father says, "Your mother's right, she's really up on things." "Before we married, Mommy served in the WACS in the Philippines." Now, I had heard the WACS recruited old maids for the war. But mommy isn't one of those, I've known her all these years.
For those who don't know, WAC's is the Womens Army Corp. The father is trying to validate the mother's advice to the son, but at the same time being quite sarcastic to the mother. Someone else clued everyone in on a very important play on rhyming scheme...Things/Philippines, War/Years??? Listener is supposed to anticipate "I've known she was a WHORE". This is just like in the movie, Nacho Libre. Jack Black sings an ode to his forbidden love interest after exiling himself to the desert:
I ate some bugs, I ate some grass I used my hand...to wipe my face
Get it?
Whatever happened to all this season's losers of the year? Ev'ry time I got to thinking, where'd they disappear? When I woke up, Mom and Dad are rolling on the couch. Rolling numbers, rock and rolling, got my Kiss records out.
The first two lines are the teenage boy's of attitude, actually starting to think that maybe parents/adults aren't such losers all the time. He's maturing, discovering that grownups were actually young rebels once too. This is further reinforced by the last two lines, when the boy finds his parents mackin on the couch, doin' lines with rolled dollar bills, rockin' to Kiss records. He's wokin up to the reality.
Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird. Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away, ay, ay, ay.
The chorus/song is saying: So what if you're a grown up! Go ahead and surrender your inhibitions now and then. Get freaky and let loose once in awhile...just don't let the kids catch on!!! ;)
I think you've pretty much nailed it, fiomojo. The break in the rhyming scheme in the second stanza looks like a deliberate poetic device. The listener would anticipate "whore" (not sure about "I've known she was a WHORE", though. In the outtake version of this song, an alternate lyric is used:<br /> <br /> Now I had heard the WACS recruited old maids, dykes and whores<br /> But mommy isn't one of those, I've known her all these years.<br /> <br /> Notice how the lyric is "one of those" in both versions? does that mean she's not "old" or a "maid"? or is it just a leftover from a previous version of the lyric? In either case, the alternate version implies to me that the hidden rhyme might not be "whores." Maybe it's somethng like "But mommy isn't one of those, at least not since the war". ;-)<br /> <br /> I agree with the third stanza, but i think rolling numbers just means rolling joints. <br /> <br /> I think the chorus is just amazing because it has so many simultaneous meanings. Surrender (to lust, conformity, Americans, soldiers, whores, etc.) but don't give yourself away (go too far, lose your moral purity, catch a disease, reveal your true self, etc.). Hell, it might even refer to the Philipines (surrendering to the Japanese, then the Americans, etc.) <br /> <br /> It's interesting that it has so many allusions to war (surrender, soldier, WACS, etc.)
overall, a pretty nice interpretation, though some new information from user GuitarGuy057 does make at least part of your theory obsolete:<br /> <br /> The lyrics about the mother being in the WAC's is a reference to the Women's Army Corps, which was active during World War II. And if you're wondering why those lyrics, "Now I had heard the WACs recruited old maids for the war," don't make much sense, it's because they weren't written that way. The original lyrics were deemed too racy: "Now I had heard the WACs were either old maids, dykes or whores."<br /> <br /> After hearing this, the line makes a lot more sense.<br /> <br /> Great rock song.<br />
No, no, and no. Your "alternate" rhyming scheme makes no sense (war actually meaning whore). None of the ending words in the first verse rhyme; therefore, none of your 'implied' rhymes about the WACs are plausible.<br /> <br /> Also, "rolling numbers" has nothing to do with cocaine. It's about rolling joints. Marijuana is a wholly different drug than cocaine, and the terminology you claim for one is only used for the other.<br /> <br /> So before you start your diatribe with "Okay, here's what "Surrender" really means," perhaps you should have a clue as to what you are speaking about. Because you are completely wrong in most of what you stated. I'm really curious if you consider yourself a "grown-up or a smart enough teenager," because your interpretation of this song is ridiculous and incorrect.
@flomojo You are definitely correct about the "whore" theory - have you ever heard the original demo version of this song? It went something along the lines of "Now I had heard the WACS recruited old maids, dykes and whores."
@flomojo I really like your analysis of Surrender. It's a great song! I am of the opinion that music is art, and it can be interpreted differently by each person. <br /> I think this song's bigger message is of teenagers growing up; The specifics deal with their relationship with their parents, sex, drugs, rock n roll. <br /> The song is great because it goes back and forth from the parents to the teenager. The chorus seems to be both... "mommy's all right, daddy's all right" is the teenager talking to himself about his parents; "Surrender, but don't give yourself away" is the parents coming to grips with getting older. It can also be interpreted as more parental advice to their teenager. <br /> <br /> I (obviously) understand the sexual references throughout the song, but I think the song is more than that. The last verse is great!<br /> How would you react if you saw your parents having sex while listening to your Kiss records? Talk about mixed emotions!
@flomojo You are right about the WACS as i'm not surprised most folks don't know that. I think you missed the mark on rolling numbers with rolled dollar bill to snort coke when in fact rolling a number is old slang for rolling a joint. For example the opening lines to Neil Young's lyrics to Albuquerque, " Well they say that Santa Fe is less than ninety miles away and I got time to roll a number and rent a car" Neil was never a big coke kind of guy but he has been known to smoke a number on occasion. Nice song too, give it a listen.