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"
Oh, so I'm praying all at night
And I wake up praying the whole daylight
I pray to you, and hear my request
I ask of you to save this baby
Oh, look at the girl
Awful inside, is cancer-eaten, is life-deprived,
And if so by who? Could it be you?
I see no need for a baby's wisdom for you
Oh, God, the girl, all yellow turned
Her cheeks are swollen, and soul is burned
Oh, but the girl, the girl is gone
And the deed is done, oh it must be wrong
Oh and I pray, my prayer's not heard
Could it be your death, death to mortal words?
Oh, and see her pain, and drain and drain
Could you be deaf, and blind my friend?
Oh, and so we hold
Cannot you not hear? Cannot you not see?
And if with words
You could change the way things are arranged
Surely you'd be speaking, speaking no change
Oh, but the girl, deaf, dumb, and blind
From the cancer burning deep down inside
Oh, but the deed is done
And the girl is gone
I see no faith
That I have won
Well, you may find your religion
You may find your attraction
You may go, for me the girl is gone
Oh, you may find you're faithful
You may find out the reaction
But to me, the baby's gone
The baby...
Hey... hey...
And I wake up praying the whole daylight
I pray to you, and hear my request
I ask of you to save this baby
Oh, look at the girl
Awful inside, is cancer-eaten, is life-deprived,
And if so by who? Could it be you?
I see no need for a baby's wisdom for you
Oh, God, the girl, all yellow turned
Her cheeks are swollen, and soul is burned
Oh, but the girl, the girl is gone
And the deed is done, oh it must be wrong
Oh and I pray, my prayer's not heard
Could it be your death, death to mortal words?
Oh, and see her pain, and drain and drain
Could you be deaf, and blind my friend?
Oh, and so we hold
Cannot you not hear? Cannot you not see?
And if with words
You could change the way things are arranged
Surely you'd be speaking, speaking no change
Oh, but the girl, deaf, dumb, and blind
From the cancer burning deep down inside
Oh, but the deed is done
And the girl is gone
I see no faith
That I have won
Well, you may find your religion
You may find your attraction
You may go, for me the girl is gone
Oh, you may find you're faithful
You may find out the reaction
But to me, the baby's gone
The baby...
Hey... hey...
Lyrics submitted by flaquito
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Great version of a great song,
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the kid that dave matthews is holding inside uttad is his sister anne's song. anne was murdered by her husband just before the record was realeased and now dave and his sister jane(from the song"the song that jane likes") takes care of him. i think that the girl who died of cancer in the song is meant to be stefan lassard's daughter that died.
this is a truly powerful song. you can find on the "live at luther college" album. it's about how he is questioning god about taking certain people, mainly a little girl who dies of cancer. i'm not sure, but i think it's maybe the little girl who is on the inside cover of "under the table and dreaming". this song is awesome, powerful and sad.
i agree that this a very powerful song, you can tell it means a lot to him, im pretty sure it has to do with the death of Stefans baby
The first time I heard this song I thought it was about an abortion. I didn't even know that Stefan had a baby. And I always thought that the little girl on the inside cover or UTTAD was his sister Anne's little girl. (you know, It says "In Memory of Anne") But I also could be very wrong on all of those predictions.
I dont know what this song is about but just to clear something up, on the inside cover of UTTAD that is Dave's nephew,most likely Anne's son.
I dont know what this song is about but just to clear something up, on the inside cover of UTTAD that is Dave's nephew,most likely Anne's son.
This song is about Stephan's child that died of cancer, has nothing to do with Dave's sister or any supposed child of hers.
Actually, Stefan's child hadn't died until about September 1996. The Luther College version was played in February of that year. Even earlier, there was a full band version played on 10/4/95 and a Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds version played on 9/24/95. It was supposedly recorded during the Crash sessions but was scrapped.
Supposedly, this is about a fan named "Emily" who was stricken with terminal cancer (from dmbalmanac.com) - it's a clear and powerful lament over the loss of a child to cancer.
the song is about Dave questioning faith through prayer, free will and the requests of mankind towards our needs and fate that has already been written.
if the girl became sick and died. it was their fate. no amount of prayer would have changed the event. the expectations of mankind towards God can become skewed as we look through our eyes the activities of God within our daily struggles instead of through Gods eyes and the reason for the event occuring.
dave is learning the knowledge of Good and evil. as he is experiencing things he didnt expect.
he's learning how to be a humbled creature
Firstly, I view Dave as using the word "cancer" broadly to mean an evil condition or something that spreads destructively, NOT only the medical disease.<br /> <br /> I Agree with Me2's interpretation. I feel that this song is about the man's struggle with faith--specifically reconciling the evils of our world with an omnipotent creator who has the ability to cure them.<br /> <br /> Additionally, the last verse :<br /> <br /> "Oh, you may find you're faithful<br /> You may find out the reaction"<br /> <br /> Here he, (the person in the song), addresses those who proclaim to have faith, suggesting to them that once they their faith, they may lose it as well. Dave is suggest that untested certainty, or faith in a higher power is not stronger than those who are struggling and doubt their faith after testing it.
I thought Stefan's daughter died of SIDS, not cancer.