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And there's three, count 'em three
Children playing on the beach
They were eager to learn,
To be taught and to teach
There's Veronica
She's biting her lip
As she watches the waves turn white at the tip
And there's Vada
Radiating with joy
And luckily she still can't stand the sight of a boy
And lastly there's Dade
His hair dances in the wind
And he's wondering what love is
And why it has to end
And he can't understand
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends
His mother whispers quietly...
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive
So live for the moment
And take this advice, live by every word
Love is just a hoax so forget anything that you have heard
And live for the moment now
And there's three, count 'em three
Children growing on the beach
They were eager to learn,
To be taught and to teach
There's Veronica
She's licking her lips
As she waits for her real, first passionate kiss
And there's Vada
Can't admit her jealousy
Of her sister Veronica, and how she's so pretty (and how she's so pretty)
Lastly there's Dade
Still sitting on the dock
Ponders his life, and he skips his rocks
And he wonders when his father will return
But he's not coming back
And he can't understand
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends
His mother whispers quietly...
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive
So live for the moment
And take this advice, live by every word
Love is just a hoax so forget everything that you have heard (forget everything)
And there's three, count 'em three
Children missing from the beach
They were eager to learn,
To be taught and to teach
But the sad thing
Is that they never lived passed the age of fifteen
Due to neglect from their mother
Who was bed ridden by her ex-lover, their father
She didn't even notice, or pay much attention
As the tide came in and swept her three into the ocean
Now all her advice, it seems useless
No, heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you touch her and you feel alive
So live for the moment
And take this advice, live by every word
Love's completely real, so forget anything that you've heard
And live for the moment now
Children playing on the beach
They were eager to learn,
To be taught and to teach
There's Veronica
She's biting her lip
As she watches the waves turn white at the tip
And there's Vada
Radiating with joy
And luckily she still can't stand the sight of a boy
And lastly there's Dade
His hair dances in the wind
And he's wondering what love is
And why it has to end
And he can't understand
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends
His mother whispers quietly...
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive
So live for the moment
And take this advice, live by every word
Love is just a hoax so forget anything that you have heard
And live for the moment now
And there's three, count 'em three
Children growing on the beach
They were eager to learn,
To be taught and to teach
There's Veronica
She's licking her lips
As she waits for her real, first passionate kiss
And there's Vada
Can't admit her jealousy
Of her sister Veronica, and how she's so pretty (and how she's so pretty)
Lastly there's Dade
Still sitting on the dock
Ponders his life, and he skips his rocks
And he wonders when his father will return
But he's not coming back
And he can't understand
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends
His mother whispers quietly...
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive
So live for the moment
And take this advice, live by every word
Love is just a hoax so forget everything that you have heard (forget everything)
And there's three, count 'em three
Children missing from the beach
They were eager to learn,
To be taught and to teach
But the sad thing
Is that they never lived passed the age of fifteen
Due to neglect from their mother
Who was bed ridden by her ex-lover, their father
She didn't even notice, or pay much attention
As the tide came in and swept her three into the ocean
Now all her advice, it seems useless
No, heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you touch her and you feel alive
So live for the moment
And take this advice, live by every word
Love's completely real, so forget anything that you've heard
And live for the moment now
Lyrics submitted by BrandNew1208
"The Tide" as written by Nicholas Edward Thomas
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The next section is after their father has left their mother. Veronica is turning to other men in her life to substitute the absence of her father. Vada has never had attention from anyone because of her sister Veronica or maybe just because she hasn't had a father in her life. This causes a confusion of character for Vada. Then there is Dade...pondering the same thing, what is love? But to add onto it...he has lost his father and has no idea what to do. He hears the same thing from his mother "love is not real".
The last verse is the most obvious and the saddest. Their mother is so lost in her emotions that first of all, she had not known how to be a mother in the first place, but now she is completely lost. I can imagine her as being one of those people who just shuts down. Well, this woman has 3 lost children who are trying to grow up on their own, but love is just a hoax...So...they all commit suicide. That is why they never lived past the age of 15. So now...everything that she told her Dade..told her Vada and Veronica..she realizes how wrong it was. She realizes that even though she did not have love from her "lover" their father, she had love for her children she had love from them...and she realizes herself that love is real, because you never know how much something means till its gone. This is the evolution of a set of relationships of hopelessness...it can be the average person at any point. When a person feels neglected and loses their touch on life. It's a pretty blatantly obvious song.
"Heaven's not a place that you go when you die
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive
So live for the moment"
its a cool lyric, but its sarcasm on the singers part, he doesn't believe that!! at the end of the song when the kids are "gone" you can she the regret and remorse on the mothers face. pay attention to the last line..
"And take this advice, live by every word
Love's completely real, so forget anything that you've heard
And live for the moment NOW!" she takes bad her former advice love is something real... he keeps saying live of the moment through out the song... but the last line live for "the moment NOW!!" .. the kids cant live for the moment they are already gone...
There were over 50 people singing this song at the funeral home during the service.. so touching and emotional.
I love that there are so many songs that remind me of him. This song and Jesus Christ will forever have a place in my heart.
The face-value meaning of this song is pretty self-explanatory. However, I think the story has a deeper meaning. I can't quite put my finger on it. Any ideas?
Some of you have some ridiculous interpretations, i must say. But i think i agree with a lot of you in the way you view the tides and other things.
In the end, it doesn't matter what this song means because it's so lovely and true.
but secondly, this song is filled with metaphors.
the mother was obviously hurt by her husband.
not only was she "bed-ridden" (also a metaphor) but she refused to believe in love because of him.
"Love is just a hoax
So forget everything that you have heard"
even though she loved her children.
so she's a double standard.
the bed-ridden part...
at first i thought this was an abusive relationship, which it still could be.
but listening to it more,
he could have died. or just left.
therefore, she was bed-ridden with pain of how love walked out.
and i definitely agree with echoskybound, good explaination.
I think that the mother and her attempting to teach her kids that love isn't real is an example of how badly love can hurt people.
I see the tide as a metaphor for love, and her children getting 'swept into the ocean' is this womans children seeing love for it's benefits and be swept away by it.
But it appears to me that the main idea of the song is that love can never be seen in just one light, because it's so much more than one emotion. It's everything good, and everything bad. Those who focus in on one aspect miss out on things, and loose whats most important in the world.
I dunno, that's just me.