Lyrics for Wild World as interpreted by kevin

Wild World Lyrics
Now that I've lost everything to you
You say you wanna start something new
And it's breakin' my heart you're leavin'
Baby, I'm grievin'
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl

You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do
And it's breakin' my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don't be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Chorus

Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Chorus (twice)

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drpoundsign
10-22-2009

Rated 0 
Donovan Leitch must have been an influence. There was a "Special" in 77 (ABC I think) on teen pregnancy. They played that song while showing the porn magazine covers "the wrong message sex education."

That and "tonight's the night" by Rod Stewart great sexy songs of the time

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robinofloxley
10-20-2009

Rated 0 
this is the song i am going to give to my niece on her 18th birthday

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starcarly
10-02-2009

Rated 0 
This song will be my father-daughter dance at my wedding. It's always been his song for me, and I think it perfectly describes a father's desire to see his daughter succeed without being naive.

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Kamitsu
09-17-2009

Rated 0 
If you guys don't know already, the song is about Patty D'Arbanville.

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McWulf
07-20-2009

Rated 0 
I don't doubt that the soung could be about Patti D'Arbanville, it could be about a daughter or it could be about any random parting. What Cat has managed to achieve is to capture the ambivalence of wishing a loved one well whilst suffering heartache at the same time.

A couple of years ago I had a dream that when I was a child I was close to a little girl, and that she stopped being my friend because I was wanting to only be with like-minded boys. That dream left me very emotional and this song has much the same affect on me, especially all the references to "girl".

Whatever he originally meant, he's managed to encapsulate the agony and denial of heartache beautifully.

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delacerd
03-26-2009

Rated 0 
This song is about his relationship/breakup with Patti D'Arbanville who was much younger and left him to pursue her modeling career.

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In The Garden
07-20-2008

Rated 0 
For me it's a father-daughter song. It's about the whole separation thing. It's about a daughter leaving the coop and chasing independence. Basically, she's going to try to make it on her own, breaking away from the ties that bind her with her parents.

The father can't help but worry because he knows how cruel the world can be. He also feels helpless because he knows his daughter's departure is inevitable and so he's giving out some important things for the girl to remember:
"I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear, but then a lot of nice things turn bad out there" -- if she's looking to gain financial independence, she must be wary not to fall in the trap of thinking that material things are the ones that matter most.
"I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there, but just remember there's a lot of bad and beware" -- he hopes that she'll find a great support group out there once she's out of their guidance and warns her that not all people whom you can call a 'friend' would always have the best intentions for you, so she better watch her back.

I love this song. It's a beautiful song, it's a wonderful mixture of a parent's love, hope, worries.. just the parent being human, worrying and ultimately just wanting the best for his child.

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Like_Millions
03-10-2008

Rated 0 
This song is so awesome! To me it's about the guy who really loves this girl, but she didn't love him back, and just used him. He knew this, but continued to love her, even when they broke up and she left. That's just my take on it, and other people probably think something different, but, whatever.

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scottely
01-16-2008

Rated 0 
now it just seems to me that this song is written to a girl who is leaving him not from death, but is making the choice to leave him.

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scottely
01-16-2008

Rated 0 
now that i actually read the lyrics this doesn't make much sense to me, but i have heard that he wrote this song for his girlfriend who was on a plane back to india to ask her parents if she could marry cat. and on the way there he plane crashed, killing her

the only lyrics that really make that seem remotely true are: Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there

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singleeye
01-09-2008

Rated 0 
I've always thought this song was sung by a man deeply in love with a girl younger than him at least in terms of experience. He has lost everything to her meaning he would give up anything and has for her. But she is young and innocent and naieve(sp?) and wants to explore the world maybe pursue an acting career or something. He is more experienced and understands that the world can be a dangerous place especially to the innocent and he wants to warn her. He loves her so much he is willing to let her go but it hurts him to think of what she will encounter. Then the next song, "Sad Lisa" seems to me to be her coming back a very broken person.

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KurupT
11-29-2007

Rated 0 
People need to realise a song can have more meaning than the direct words.

Just because he says "I'll always remember you like a child" doesn't mean it's a father daughter thing. Lyrics have subtelties and double meanings.

It's obviously about a relationship which has fallen apart, and he is pleading and convincing her not to leave, because even though it's not perfect with him, it won't be without him either.

Really beautiful song though. Love it.

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corndogggy
11-28-2007

Rated 0 
After much deliberation, I believe this song was written about a girl wanting to make it in showbusiness, the entertainment industry. I think the author had already had some experience in this area and may have already been popular, then started seeing a girl who was a naive nobody. She starts believing she can make it on her own based on some comments of some higher-ups in the business due to exposure from being around the author, so she ditches the author so she can head out to Hollywood, or something to that effect. Problem is, she doesn't know what she is talking about, she only has these dreams, and thinks it will be very easy to make it. The author knows better, hence the line "It's hard to get by just upon a smile", and this song is a warning to her, kind of like "it doesn't quite work that way, but hey, knock yourself out". The line "I hope you have alot of nice things to wear" was a way of saying "I hope you make it"... then the next line "But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there" is basically saying "but I've seen the ugly side of this industry, and I am highly concerned". He knows that naive young women with big dreams can easily be taken advantage of in Hollywood and similar places. He tries to sum this up by saying "You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do, And it's breakin' my heart in two, Because I never wanna see you a sad girl". He then repeats his idea that he's trying to warn her about people taking advantage of her, but if she still wants to go, then she's got his blessing and he's not going to fight it, and he'll be rooting for her to succeed... just be careful... in the lines "But if you wanna leave, take good care,
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there,
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware". I think the central theme to the song is that the author has been in the exact footsteps of this girl, trying to make it in showbusiness, and because of that he has seen the shady side, so he's warning her, but at the same time, he's done it himself, so he's letting her go without a fight due to not wanting to be hypocritical.

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McWulf
08-29-2007

Rated 0 
One of the best songs ever. For me it's about him wanting to let her go but finding it painful. He can't stand the pain and he projects it onto her, suggesting that she has to be careful out there in the "wild world". At the same time it evokes our own pain from childhood, when we lose our playful innocence. Our yearning for that repressed part of us is something we look for in others. But the memories are indeed our own. "I always remember you like a child". Not sure if Cat meant to have written about it like that but often the most powerful songs seem to draw on deep emotional issues which affect many of us.

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shanshanshabang
08-19-2007

Rated 0 
The song is in the form of the singer's words to his departing lover, inspired by Stevens' relationship with Patti D'Arbanville. Despite having continued feelings that are "breaking (his) heart in two," he accepts her decision and wishes her well, but warns her that life without him will not be so easy. The refrain begins each time with "Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world / It's hard to get by just upon a smile."


I

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metzor
05-07-2007

Rated 0 
Definitely about a girl leaving him and breaking his heart in the process. He still loves her and wants her to be happy, but what makes him even more broken up over it is the fact that he knows she will be sad without him, as the world is a scary place and there's a lot of bad out there for her to find while she's not with him.

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bansheenoise
04-01-2007

Rated 0 
i hate the fact this song was covered by skins.
skins is great, but i loved it before.
now everyone likes it because its a skins song.
it should be associated with its beauty.
not coz sid sang it.

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into_xwhite
02-10-2007

Rated 0 
The only way I can look at it is from the father-daughter perspective that some of you have mentioned, because my dad really did used to sing this to me. That's how I got into Cat Stevens. It's sad to think that most people my age have no idea who he is.

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BeautigulMess
02-04-2007

Rated 0 
I have so many memories of falling asleep listening to this song at my camp. It just reminds me of being young and carefree. Love it!

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redgiant
01-02-2007

Rated 0 
I believe that Cat is saying that the world can do many harmful things and you can go through some really hard times but everything always works out. He is explaining you always need to live your best and always be good but always warns her to watch out for the bad.

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winwin
07-02-2006

Rated 0 
i heart this song. i am an optimistic person, so many people consider me a ditz. this song seems to explain how i feel pretty well. it acknowledges that there is shit in the world, but that you need hope to get through it. wishing good for the ones you love is what you should do, but you should know that it won't be easy. so basically, i see the lyrics as a hopeful view to something that has risks.

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thezigg
05-12-2006

Rated 0 
For me this song is about a daughter leaving home. It is a daughter the guy had with someone he didnt love and the only reason he married and stuck around was to raise and love the kid. Now that I lost everything to you could be him thinking about how he lost his freedom, lifestyle, and dreams when she was born. He loves her alot so its killing him she is leaving and he is just giving parental advise about the world. Thats what it means to me. Im sure it was about a breakup but my explanation hits home much better.

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bbbcswr
05-03-2006

Rated 0 
Allright,here is my take on this song. Probably not what he was thinking when he wrote it but who knows...makes sense to me.


There is a girl that he has known since childhood. They grew up together and were very close. They got together in their early teens (probably lost their virginities to eachother) and she is now about to go off to college. The girl does not want to try to stay together, she wants to experience new things and see what the world has to offer. Instead of being selfish and begging her, he tells her he loves her and wishes her success. He warns her of how harsh the "real world" can be. She seems to have a distorted view of the world, like fancy clothes and what people think of her is important. But regardless, he knows her true innocence and loves her.

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count_floyd
01-22-2006

Rated 0 
This song is clearly about a relationship with a girl ending, but it seems obvious to me that the narrator is getting dumped and his girl is moving away to live a more exciting (or successful, or glamorous, whatever) life.

There's no way it can be about a daughter or a friend, because of the theme of bitterness in the first verse. He's clearly holding a grudge against this girl:
"now that i've lost everything to you" - you don't say that to a daughter, you say that to a girl who dumps you unceremoniously. The same is true for:
"I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there"

He's not actually wishing her well, he's being sarcastic. He thinks she's naive and he's mad that she broke up with him, and he's hoping that all her plans to be successful fall through. It is definitely not about fond remembrances.

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2 Replies
way_2_nang
01-20-2006

Rated 0 
Great song!

The Maxi Priest version is better tho!

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