It Doesn't Mean a Thing

Well I never knew my mother

But I can't say it was so bad

She was still a girl of seventeen

The night she met my dad

He was just six months out of chino

Trying his hardest to stay clean

And they'd sing, and they'd sing, and they'd sing

Like doves sleeping with broken wings

With a banquet for a king

"It didn't mean a thing"

It was a shotgun forest wedding

But they forgot to bring the guns

They were too busy counting promises

To children not yet born

No one could afford the ride

They just hitched up the 101

But they'd sing, and they'd sing, and they'd sing

Like doves dancing with broken wings

With a music for a king

"It didn't mean a thing"

There was a loneliness, they would confess

Like the world had gone bad I guess

So they'd hold hands looking into the eyes of god

And they'd say tell me why'd you hide from us

Why'd you fill this world with wickedness

Why'd you spare us from your grace

But not the rod

Now my dad says fuck the details

You just keep your head down hard

You gotta find yourself alone before you'll find the eyes of God

You may be broken, scared, and battered, dear

I confess to your hearts dreams

But you were born to be a peasant not a king

So just stop acting like you're running from something

You gotta leave the way you came without a thing

With your heart tied to your mind tied to a string

And you sing, and you sing, and you sing

"It doesn't mean a thing"