"Good God! Don't jump!"
A boy sat on the ledge.
An old man who had fainted was revived.
And everyone agreed it would be a miracle indeed
If the boy survived.

"Save the life of my child!"
Cried the desperate mother.

The woman from the supermarket
Ran to call the cops.
"He must be high on something," someone said.
Though it never made The New York Times.
In The Daily News, the caption read,
"Save the life of my child!"
Cried the desperate mother.

A patrol car passing by
Halted to a stop.
Said officer MacDougal in dismay:
"The force can't do a decent job
'Cause the kids got no respect
For the law today (and blah blah blah)."

"Save the life of my child!"
Cried the desperate mother.
"What's becoming of the children?"
People asking each other.

When darkness fell, excitement kissed the crowd
And made them wild
In an atmosphere of freaky holiday.
When the spotlight hit the boy,
The crowd began to cheer,
He flew away.

"Oh, my Grace, I got no hiding place."


Lyrics submitted by kevin

Save the Life of My Child Lyrics as written by Paul Simon

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Save The Life Of My Child song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment

    Woah. Vishal, I completely disagree. I think it's more about people -assuming- that everything is about drugs. The adults automatically say the boy is high, rather than thinking about the fact that the reason he's about to jump is because of actual feelings, they assume it's just drugs. And then the boy finally does jump because he realizes that even when he's throwing the effects of their assumptions in their faces, they don't stop.

    But that's just me.

    a345jklon March 13, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    ok, I got to do this. I love Simon and Garfunkel but never really cared for this song until...one night on high school overnight trip to some conference or another i couldn't sleep in the hotel room and i was listening to this on my headset and i thought i heard something so i listened and listened probably 20 times that night...DO IT...and in one of those funky interludes you will hear the intro to sounds of silence ("hello darkness my old friend"). This has been well over 10 years ago but right after i found no mention of this anywhere on the internet...quite a little gem and I will always have a soft spot for this song now.

    ltienkeon November 14, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think a345jkl has it right, whee1s. The boy does jump at the end ("He flew away"). The "I got no hiding place" is from the adults - their shame at having treated his suicide as an entertaining spectacle.

    msclguruon March 28, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I dont think that although the image of the boy flying away could be him dieing i dont feel that fits the tone of the song. For one thing there is a noteable change in the last verse where the croud are no longer shocked and horrified but instead they are cheering and kissed with excitement. I think it is about the older generation competely misunderstanding the motivations and actions of the young. They think hes going to fall, but instead he flies. It is important to note that the song never aludes to the boy's state of mind. Infact the only pieces of information we get about him is that he sits on a ledge and that he flies away, although the last bit is ofcourse open to interpratation. (forgive any miss spellings)

    fearcharfaceon November 02, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Listen to the song. They sing the sounds of silence in the middle!

    FanOfToddR.on May 02, 2016   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I was listening to this song for the first time today and when I heard Sound of Silence play, it made me think back to when I heard simon talk about How the song is about poor communication and The miscommunication generation to generation. (People hearing without listening, people talking without speaking, etc.) I think the mention of that was almost an innuendo referring to most people in The song is stuck on the idea that his suicidal Tendencies are influenced by drugs due to what they heard from generations before them.(disregarding if what the other gen learned was true or not)

    [Edit: EDIT: had to clarify "generations Before them"]
    MaxTheFrogon February 15, 2023   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i can't believe that not a single soul has commented on this song. I understand the hidden induendos but i would love to hear what others think.

    Tapies24on February 25, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Unbelievable. Gorgeous song.

    a345jklon January 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I always thought it was about generations not understanding each other too. But I never thought he jumped in the end. I kind of just had an image of a kid on a ledge (well a billboard ledge in particular- but thats me) trying to hide away and get some space, hence the ending "I got no hiding place" because all the 'adults' came and ruined his solitude.

    whee1sonfireon March 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    He totally jumps (although I didn't get it at first). I don't think it was his intention at the beginning, though. I think he felt forced into it. "I got no hiding place" is his monologue as he careens toward the ground.

    Dabizion March 28, 2008   Link

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