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I don't know how I'm gonna tell you, I can't play with you no more,
I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me, My friend, the boy next door.
I can't believe what people saying, You're gonna let your hair hang down,
I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long, You're in the darker side of town.
And when I'm out I see you walking, Why don't your eyes see me,
Could it be you've found another game to play, What did mama say to me.
*That's The Way, Oh, That's The Way it ought to be,
Yeah, yeah, mama say That's The Way it ought to stay.
And yesterday I saw you standing by the river,
And weren't those tears that filled your eyes,
And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying,
Had they got you hypnotized?
And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers,
But all that lives is born to die.
And so I say to you that nothing really matters,
And all you do is stand and cry.
I don't know what to say about it,
When all you ears have turned away,
But now's the time to look and look again at what you see,
Is that the way it ought to stay?
That's the way... That's the way it oughtta be
Oh don't you know now, Mama said.. that's the way it's gonna stay, yeah.
I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me, My friend, the boy next door.
I can't believe what people saying, You're gonna let your hair hang down,
I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long, You're in the darker side of town.
And when I'm out I see you walking, Why don't your eyes see me,
Could it be you've found another game to play, What did mama say to me.
*That's The Way, Oh, That's The Way it ought to be,
Yeah, yeah, mama say That's The Way it ought to stay.
And yesterday I saw you standing by the river,
And weren't those tears that filled your eyes,
And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying,
Had they got you hypnotized?
And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers,
But all that lives is born to die.
And so I say to you that nothing really matters,
And all you do is stand and cry.
I don't know what to say about it,
When all you ears have turned away,
But now's the time to look and look again at what you see,
Is that the way it ought to stay?
That's the way... That's the way it oughtta be
Oh don't you know now, Mama said.. that's the way it's gonna stay, yeah.
Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 06:43
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But I do know that I want this song for my funeral.
Lots of people say it's abour racism, but I can't put an interpretation for this one... This song just... I don't know.
Perfect song when I'm driving. I'm happy and sad at the same time when I listen it, so I better be alone!
This is a tender love song, possibly the only one they ever did besides "All my Love" and "I'm going to Crawl". The heartfelt vocals are what set this apart from every other Led Zeppelin song, and it's because Robert Plant is singing straight from his heart. And he's not singing about mystical things, or the seasons of love, or the world of hobbitry, or the environmental movement, he's singing what he knows.
He's asking the boy, why can't you just play along and do what society demands, since being true to yourself only brings you so much sadness? Why can't you go without love? Is it worth the tears and rejection?
The last lyric shows frustration with people for being so closed minded ("when all your ears have turned away") and also shows what Robert Plant truly believes. "Is that the way it ought to stay?"
Open your mind up to this interpretation and, if you love this song already, it will become so much more beautiful because it's such a rare example of Plant opening and sharing his life with his audience.
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"But now's the time to look and look again at what you see,
Is that the way it ought to stay?"
Incredible maturity and artistry from 'just' a rock-n-roll band.
Anyway, what does it mean? I don't think it has any certain meaning; the lyrics sound very stream-of-conciousness to me. I think it's more about a general feeling: that life is both happy and sad, beautiful and ugly, glorious and wretched. And I have a feeling that, at some point when he was very young, his mama told him so.
it's about the earth lol ecology