Eyes of A Child

[Sometime to Return]

I love these lyrics; I try to live by them. "It's" only a big deal if "we" make it one.
Sometimes life gives you lemons; turn them into lemonade. The glass is 1/2 full; not 1/2 empty.
Dave's a f'ing genius.
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He picked up the paper from the bitter cold morning
He had just gone to sleep, he had to get up for work
By morning he's a watchman and by night he's a waiter
In the late afternoon he works as a clerk

And he can't pay the doctor bills, he just can't afford the pills
The car's repossesed and the child support's due
But he saw the world through the eyes of a child
Big problems seem smaller and old things seem new

[Homesick]

I love these lyrics; I try to live by them. "It's" only a big deal if "we" make it one. [...] But he saw the world through the eyes of a child

Yes, the lyrics to Eyes of A Child are a good listen. I'm curious about one thing, though: What do you make of the very last lyrics in the song, i.e. "She saw the world through the eyes of a child / Yes, she's seen it all and she knows they're all lies"?

[CrazyLittleWoman]

Dave's a f'ing genius.

Dave IS an f'ing songwriting genius. Why he doesn't get more recognition for it is a complete mystery.

[CrazyLittleWoman]

I love these lyrics; I try to live by them. "It's" only a big deal if "we" make it one. [...] But he saw the world through the eyes of a child

Yes, the lyrics to Eyes of A Child are a good listen. I'm curious about one thing, though: What do you make of the very last lyrics in the song, i.e. "She saw the world through the eyes of a child / Yes, she's seen it all and she knows they're all lies"?

Hopefully what follows won't ruin anyone's take on the song. It is just an opinion.

For most of the song, "the eyes of a child" seems to refer to maintaining the innocence and wonder that many children often have. But then, in the last verse, the song introduces a 13-year-old girl whose innocent was destroyed at least seven years ago. And just when you think Dave is somehow romanticizing or sentimentalizing child prostitution ("it don't make her sick") and that it's okay that she's a prostitute because she has nevertheless maintained her sense of wonder and innocence, he hits you smack between the eyes with that last line. Then you realize what crap it is to think that a drug-addicted child prostitute is an innocent or that anything is okay about that situation. Also, Dave's way of reminding us that children often see through the lies and rationalizations of adults.

These last few lines actually make me like the song more (but then I have a cynical nature) and do not detract from the sense of optimism in hard circumstances and the importance of keeping alive in oneself a certain innocence and wonder that is in the earlier part of the song. It's good to have a reminder, though, that these are luxuries not everyone can afford.

[Judgmental Patient]

I love these lyrics; I try to live by them. "It's" only a big deal if "we" make it one. [...] But he saw the world through the eyes of a child

Yes, the lyrics to Eyes of A Child are a good listen. I'm curious about one thing, though: What do you make of the very last lyrics in the song, i.e. "She saw the world through the eyes of a child / Yes, she's seen it all and she knows they're all lies"?

Hopefully what follows won't ruin anyone's take on the song. It is just an opinion.

For most of the song, "the eyes of a child" seems to refer to maintaining the innocence and wonder that many children often have. But then, in the last verse, the song introduces a 13-year-old girl whose innocent was destroyed at least seven years ago. And just when you think Dave is somehow romanticizing or sentimentalizing child prostitution ("it don't make her sick") and that it's okay that she's a prostitute because she has nevertheless maintained her sense of wonder and innocence, he hits you smack between the eyes with that last line. Then you realize what crap it is to think that a drug-addicted child prostitute is an innocent or that anything is okay about that situation. Also, Dave's way of reminding us that children often see through the lies and rationalizations of adults.

These last few lines actually make me like the song more (but then I have a cynical nature) and do not detract from the sense of optimism in hard circumstances and the importance of keeping alive in oneself a certain innocence and wonder that is in the earlier part of the song. It's good to have a reminder, though, that these are luxuries not everyone can afford.

I actually thought it was something just a little bit darker- a bout of denial, that she simply won't believe the horrible things that she's seen. I've always thought that the song was about wasted lives.

[CrazyLittleWoman]

I actually thought it was something just a little bit darker- a bout of denial, that she simply won't believe the horrible things that she's seen. I've always thought that the song was about wasted lives.

The ending, at least, is dark. Even though Dave sings the last line very gently, I always hear it with a hard-eyed edge.

I think she does believe the horrible things that she's seen and that have been done to her. She recognizes as lies the comforting rationalizations the men who pay to have a child perform sex acts on them use to justify their actions. Also the rationalizations that the rest of us use to avoid having to confront the situation or do anything about it are seen as lies by her.

This is a child who has not been protected and loved. She will most likely not be looking back on her childhood with the kind of nostalgia exhibited by the characters in the earlier verses. This nostalgia is, at least to her, another lie.

[Judgmental Patient]

I actually thought it was something just a little bit darker- a bout of denial, that she simply won't believe the horrible things that she's seen. I've always thought that the song was about wasted lives.

The ending, at least, is dark. Even though Dave sings the last line very gently, I always hear it with a hard-eyed edge.

I think she does believe the horrible things that she's seen and that have been done to her. She recognizes as lies the comforting rationalizations the men who pay to have a child perform sex acts on them use to justify their actions. Also the rationalizations that the rest of us use to avoid having to confront the situation or do anything about it are seen as lies by her.

This is a child who has not been protected and loved. She will most likely not be looking back on her childhood with the kind of nostalgia exhibited by the characters in the earlier verses. This nostalgia is, at least to her, another lie.

I've spoken with enough people who have their own shattered pasts that I should have seen that. Well read.

[CrazyLittleWoman]

I've spoken with enough people who have their own shattered pasts that I should have seen that. Well read.

Thanks.

I've always thought that the song was about wasted lives.

By wasted lives, do you mean the single mom with 13 kids and the divorced guy with three jobs, too, or just the girl at the end, or all of the above? (I meant to ask that before.)

[Judgmental Patient]

I mean all three, granted that is definitely a liberal definition of wasted.

[CrazyLittleWoman]

I mean all three, granted that is definitely a liberal definition of wasted.

Hmm... I always sort of saw the first two verses as being about people making the best of difficult circumstances. You make a good argument for it being a darker song, though, if you see the single mom and divorced dad as having wasted lives, presumably because they're both just barely keeping their heads above water. Gives me a new take on the song. Thanks.