I was working on a Ben Harper song, and I heard a lick that sounded familiar. I realized it was similar to a lick in Cat Stevens’ Wild World.
Then the song started going through my head, and like most song lyrics, taken in a different context, they were totally different.
When I was younger and heard this song, I (naively) interpreted it as someone genuinely wishing another person well on their journey, not hanging on but letting others come into and out of their life like the tides.
Oh the naiveté of youth.
Now, in this new, slightly skewed context, I saw the lyrics as if they were sung, not by a free-spirited peace/love hippie, but by your stereotypical master of guilt, the Jewish mother.
(And it's not just Jewish mothers. All mothers are masters of the art of guilt. It's just the stereotype that comes to mind.)
Suddenly, the lyrics were hilarious.
The bottom line of this song? It's a good old passive-aggressive:
"Fine. It's a bad idea. If that's what you want, then go right ahead. What do I know, I'm just your mother."
I’ll do a little interpretation for you:
But if you wanna leave, take good care; I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
“You’re going out in THAT dress?”
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there
“You’re going to ruin your outfit.”
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world; I'll always remember you like a child, girl
“You’ll never make it out there. You’ll never grow up.”
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware
"It's not like it used to be when I was your age."
"...And you probably can't handle it anyway."
"You'd be better off staying at home where it's safe. But go ahead, you know it all..."
And of course, the big whopper of motherdom:
But if you wanna leave, take good care; I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
“Go ahead. Have a nice time. Forget about me, I know your friends are more important. ”
Which reminds me of the old joke:
Q: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: “None. You just go ahead with your friends. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.
Alone.
In the dark.
Have a nice time.”
Now that you have the context in mind, take a look at the lyrics and imagine them being sung by a master of passive/aggressive guilt:
Wild World by Cat Stevens:
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
[Chorus:]
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]
