Chinese Translation

Album: Post-War (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song a younger man journeys to ask an old man three questions:
    1) What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart?
    2) How can a man like me remain in the light?
    3) If life is really as short as they say, then why is the night so long?
    This is reminiscent of the Leo Tolstoy morality story The Three Questions, in which an emperor decides that if he knows the answers to three questions, he will never stray in any matter. While the younger man seems to be focused on personal issues, the emperor is more concerned with the right way to act:
    1) What is the best time to do each thing?
    2) Who are the most important people to work with?
    3) What is the most important thing to do at all times?
    In the Tolstoy story, the emperor "finds the answers" when he unknowingly helps a person who is trying to hurt him. In this song, the old man simply tells the younger man he is a "young fool who is afraid to do the things he has to do."
  • In an April 2007 interview, M. Ward describes songwriting as a form of art:
    "I'm really open to interpretations for anything involved with art, and I think that leaving room for people to use their intuition is doing a favor for the audience and the artwork. I'm much more interested in having a song that can have 100 meanings to 100 different people than having a song that can only be interpreted in one way." (quote taken from The Hartford Courant, Traveling Through Time, April 2007.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKennaSongwriter Interviews

Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.