Father & Son - Lyrical Analysis

[hyperrune]

I love this song, both the high and the low parts! But I think I have a completely different take on it to how it's supposed to be interpreted.

Most people say it is the thoughts of a father (lower key) and son (higher key). But every time I hear it, I only hear the father, possibly because I know Damien's a father himself.

Lines like "How can I try to explain?/ Each time I do he turns away" I thought of as the father trying to give his son advice and the son turning away, going "you're too old, you don't understand" and the line "there's a way, and I know/ that I have to go away" as the father having to step back and let the son learn about life from his own experiences rather than trying to impart advice. This interpretation gives a lot of poignancy to lines like "all the times I've cried/ keeping what I knew inside", and "from the moment I could talk/ I was ordered to listen" (as in he can now say from experience what life is about, but his son won't hear it)

Needless to say, Damien's version is exquisite
I think just knowing it is him and how important fatherhood is to him, I only hear him as the father, not the son. I thought the key change was just part of the song. The father-only interpretation seems to suit him though, even after I heard about the father-and-son-conversation story behind it, I still heard it as just the father speaking. Perhaps I need to hear the original to understand it fully

Anyone else have a take on this song?

[Spud]

That's very interesting Hyp. I read that it was about a Father & Son conversation on Wikipedia before I actually listened to the lyrics, so I've just kind of gone with that interpretation rather than thinking of one for myself. But I really like yours, that's interesting and it makes a lot of sense too.

And I agree about Damien's version being exquisite!

[Smiley]

Thanks for your thoughts on this Hype- It is interesting to read different interpretations.

I absolutely loved this song when Cat Stevens released it and listened to it constantly back then and often over the years- it's been a song we've regularly played - and was always incredibly moved by the conversation between the father & the son and I don't think I could ever "hear" it a different way.

I think it struck a chord with me as my father & brothers didn't have a good relationship mainly because my father was much older and at that particular time in history there was a gaping chasm between the life of his teen and early adult years (World War II ) and my brothers' lives (late 60's & 70's hippies, no to war and free love)

In the original version the father and son's conversations overlap at the end (in harmonies) and I always pictured them at this part of the song- not physically together-but "talking" to each other in their minds from each respective locations .

It is one of the great songs..Cat Stevens is an amazing songwriter.

[christyl]

Hyp, I think its fabulous that now, thanks to Damien, we now have a new generation that can hear this song and it can have meaning for them. I like it that you have heard the song that way, and I suppose that if it had been released today, it may very well have been heard that way, too!

Like Smiley, this song had a lot of meaning for me as well growing up. A much older parent, very rigid, very authoritarian. I think its also a reflection of its times in which it was written, the 60s being a time of rebellion against the establishment....hmmm...which raises the interpretation that this song could also be an allegory for rebellion against the established order......

[hyperrune]

... whereas I interpret it as a self-centred member of the Y-Generation

Then again, my view was sympathetic with the father rather than the son, as was the case in the original version. I guess things have changed a lot. Or perhaps they haven't. These days kids are like miniature adults - they are eager to 'really live' and think they already know everything about life. They think just because they can grasp current technology quicker, they can also understand modern life better than their parents.

Ok scratch what I said about being part of Generation Y. I sound like a parent myself. Mum always says I'm the parent in our relationship. Perhaps she should enter me in the Dinner with Damien competition

[dmac]

I explained to Hyper that when I grew up, the father in a lot of households was the absolute 'ruler' and what he said went....no discussion! It was a time of 'Children are to be seen not heard' and as a kid 'Don't speak unless you're spoken to'. The opinion of a child wasn't wanted, required or expected and you were a child in some households until you were 21 and this even applied if you had moved out or were pushed out. The frustrations of the young man were mine and I understand the tears because from the time you could talk you were told to listen.
Yeah I know, you find it hard to believe, but I was a withdrawn, shy and submissive child. It didn't matter how "bright" you were.
Yup, the times have changed.

[irishrokit]

I looked this up a while ago when I first heard Ronan sing it. This is from Yusufislam.org.uk:

Father & Son has always been one of your most popular songs. What inspired you to write it?

Father & Son is probably one of my most appreciated and well-loved songs; many people feel they can relate directly to it through their own experience of the generation gap within their families. In fact, the song was originally composed for a musical I was writing back in 1969 about the Russian Revolution. The story is about a son who wanted to leave home and sacrifice the comfort of country life in order to join the Revolution.


The rest of the interview is here
www.yusufislam.org.uk/fatherandson.shtml