Reviews for Daughters Lyrics

its about a guy (John Mayer) who becomes infatuated with a girl and then goes on to try to win her heart. he tries his best but still gets rejected.

"And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hand
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with me"

He tries telling her how much he likes her, maybe even tries making her to open up to him. But no matter how hard he tries, she keeps her doors closed. He wonders why. Then he realizes its got nothing to do with him. The problem is within her. She does not know how to open up, or maybe too scared to love/take risks. And because the next words say "Fathers be good to your daughters", i think its because something traumatic happened to her involving her dad. Perhaps he left her for another woman, like when he sings

"Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
cleaning up the mess he made"

it draws a picture of a dad leaving his family with another woman. And now that everyones hurt, the daughter is left alone fending for herself or is left mending their broken family.

This is true with girls who do not have a father figure. Because men, represented by their dads, did not treat them well, they become cautious, overprotective and distant from men in general. They tend to believe that all men are like their dads. When John Mayer says

"On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world"

its true that every dad becomes the "god" of that girl. As much as it is gratification to the dad, it is also a responsibility, which some dads disregards.

I think this is about a relationship that is ending because the girl suffers from Borderline Personality disorder brought upon by a father's abandonment and possible mother issues as well. The invalidating environment growing combined with biological factors create an emotional stability described in the beginning of the song and that many people with Borderline Personality disorder experience. The fear of real or imagined abandoment combined with emotional instability....

Just my two cents... I just got out of a relationship like that and have done a lot of research...

I think this is about a relationship that is ending because the girl suffers from Borderline Personality disorder brought upon by a father's abandonment and possible mother issues as well. The invalidating environment growing combined with biological factors create an emotional stability described in the beginning of the song and that many people with Borderline Personality disorder experience. The fear of real or imagined abandoment combined with emotional instability....

Just my two cents... I just got out of a relationship like that and have done a lot of research...

i love this song it touches me, its one of my favorite songs like i said. If it wasn't for this song I would be always mad this relaxes me i adore these lyrics it just so pleasent to read them all the time. I also love jonh mayer some people think this song is really good. I just really love this song i always listen to it all the time . Thanks John Mayer I love these lyrics.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I thought I'd take a moment to share mine. I have to say I can personally relate to how Seatown explains this song. Because what I have been through in my own life I see this song as a father/daughter relationship.

"Ooh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
cleaning up the mess he made"

To me this is referring to a Father walking out of his daughters life, which is an issue that is all too common nowadays. I can say from my own experience that when my father left me at such a young age I was hurt because he literally left me a my mom in such mess.

"On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world"

Here I think he is just showing us that a Father or "Father figure" is something that is very important in a girls life (any childs life). And before I go and start referring to my whole life could be modeled by this song, I'll stop and leave everyone else to their own thoughts.

I don't believe that there is any right or wrong way to take this song. There can be many different readings on this song (and any other piece of literature), it just depends on which reading you apply.
For example, a feminist reading can say that this song is suggesting that girlswomen NEED to be protected by boys/men.
But personally, I find the song comforting and relaxing to listen to. In my opinion, John Mayer did a dam fine job with this song, and with his other songs.

so many ppl have interpretted this song, mayor should just post something saying wat he was trying to get across, i dont have time write all my opinions on the song, but i could say that it is truly brillant, heartfelt, and im sure makes every listener feel comforted and warm inside, and for that i thank u John Mayor

"'On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world'

You know, I could buy this if the lyrics were still addressing fathers, since parents do occupy such a central role in their children;s life that calling them 'the god and the weight of her world,' isn't such a stretch. But these words are addressing 'every man looking out for every girl.' The implication is that every girl needs to be protected by a man, and in fact needs it so desperately that the man who protects her becomes her god.

I hope I can do better for <i>both</i> my children than this song would have me."

Well, although it says "god", it also says, "the weight of her world". I think it means men affect women in positive and negative ways. I don't think Mayer is trying to imply that every girl needs a man to worship as a god. I believe he's trying to highlight the commonly underestimated power men have to hurt a girl's feelings when in any type of relationship. Father/son. Girlfriend/boyfriend. Husband/wife. Friend/friend. Usually, although not always, the closer the man is to the woman, the more they can hurt the woman. But it's certainly reciprocal to the way a woman can hurt a man.

Anyways, I'm just trying to give this song a more positive light because I do have a bias of liking this song.

I was, intially going to bask in DMU clear tunnel vision of his opinion, but I shan't. Instead I'll pick up on the "Boys, you can break..." line. There are 3 ways (only) to look at this.

From the perspective of mother/ son(unlikely), from abusive bf to gf(highly unlike) or, indeed the continuation of the partners's viewpoint of the struggle to fight past the emotional ups and downs of his girlfriend/ wife. "Find out how much they can take" signifies walking on 'eggshells'. The rest is about getting through those periods of anguish and remembering that men(straight) wouldn't get far in life, without a woman's love.

It's NOT rocket Science...

"Boys, you can break
You find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without warmth from
A woman's good, good heart"

-He uses boy and woman...so he must be referring to a mother son relationship

"On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world"

-He uses man and girl...This appears to be referring to a father/daughter relationship. I don't think he is trying to say ever "male" (boyfriend, husband, etc) looking out for ever female (girlfriend, wife, etc)...

That's my 2 cent. Wonderful song.

"On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world"

This means the singer, in behalf of everyman loving a girl, makes a statement for the PARENTS that THEY (the parents) are "the god and the weight of her world" and NOT the boys loving the girls.

Taken as a whole, the song is sexist. Yes, the verses and the chorus give a lovely message, one that perhaps a lot of people need to hear. But the fact is that the song doesn't end after the third verse.

"Boys, you can break
You find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without warmth from
A woman's good, good heart"

I tell you what, as a father of both a son and a daughter, it most certainly is not OK to "break" your boys. Boys can be just as damaged as girls by a bad relationship with their parents. A girl who sucks up the abuse and winds up unable to connect as a result is a tragedy, but the boy in the same situation is just "soldiering on?"

"On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world"

You know, I could buy this if the lyrics were still addressing fathers, since parents do occupy such a central role in their children;s life that calling them "the god and the weight of her world," isn't such a stretch. But these words are addressing "every man looking out for every girl." The implication is that every girl needs to be protected by a man, and in fact needs it so desperately that the man who protects her becomes her god.

I hope I can do better for <i>both</i> my children than this song would have me.

"I think this is one of his more meaningful, as in touching, songs in comparison to his latest album which is sort of bitter/non-caring. I really don't care for it, especially the song Waiting on the World to Change. If everyone waited for the world to change nothing would change. But this one makes me think that he did care once upon a time. That's if he wrote it."

Waiting on the World to change isn't supposed to be taking literally. He is making a point by saying that everyone is waiting on the world to change, and nothing is getting done. The song is basically highlighting that we aren't doing anything by "waiting on the world to change", and that we should get off our asses and do something. Thats the genius of the song. And basically all his songs are genius, like this one (Daughters). And he also wrote basically all of them :)

I have heard this song before but, suddenly it all came to me, and it makes perfect sense, girls and women in general are shape by previous experiences, (including us guys aswell), as he puts it "maybe it has nothing to do with me" some girls are confused and filled with emotion and sometimes dont know how to act when showered with love, do to "bad" passed experience and create this "wall" hence "...where the walls are continually changed." To avoid being hurt again. Sad but true therefore as he says "On behalf of every man looking out for every girl You are the god and the weight of her world." Girls are like most flowers, beautiful and bright but very so delicate.

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
but she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change

-- He's head over heels in love with a woman who can't/won't love him back because she's troubled. He wants to understand her but it's difficult to break through.

And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hand
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with me

-- He has tried desperately to let her know that he loves her and won't leave her, but she won't lay down her defenses...and now he's come to the conclusion that because her father left she can't trust men.

Ooh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
cleaning up the mess he made

-- She's stuck in that day, maybe a dozen years ago, when her father left. So much anger, so much pain...he left her in shambles and she's still picking up the pieces.

THAT, folks, is what this song is about. John Mayer is painting a picture that is all too common in today's world. The rest of the song may take some liberties with sexist overtones, but it is basically a call to arms for all parents to love their children so they don't grow up callous and alone like the woman he loves. If anyone has a problem with that overall message, they need to re-examine their priorities.