Album: Some Devil (2003)

License This Song 

• Cyrus Jones 1810 to 1913
  Made his great grandchildren believe
  You could live to a hundred and three
  A hundred and three is forever when you're just a little kid
  So Cyrus Jones lived forever
  
  Gravedigger
  When you dig my grave
  Could you make it shallow
  So that I can feel the rain
  Gravedigger
  
  Muriel Stonewall
  1903 to 1954
  She lost both of her babies in the second great war
  Now you should never have to watch
  Your only children lowered in the ground
  I mean you should never have to bury your own babies
  
  Gravedigger
  When you dig my grave
  Could you make it shallow
  So that I can feel the rain
  Gravedigger
  
  Ring around the rosey
  Pocket full of posey
  Ashes to ashes
  We all fall down
  
  Gravedigger
  When you dig my grave
  Could you make it shallow
  So that I can feel the rain
  Gravedigger
  
  Little Mikey Carson 67 to 75
  He rode his
  Bike like the devil until the day he died
  When he grows up he wants to be Mr. Vertigo on the flying trapeze
  Oh, 1940 to 1992
  
  Gravedigger
  When you dig my grave
  Could you make it shallow
  So that I can feel the rain
  
  Gravedigger
  When you dig my grave
  Could you make it shallow
  So that I can feel the rain
  Feel the rain
  I can feel the rain
  Gravedigger
  
  Gravedigger Writer/s: CHRISTOPHER LAVERY, DAVID PROCTOR, KEVIN MATTHEWS, STEPHEN GILDEA, STEVEN NIXON
  Publisher: Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 42

• Mark from Malvern PaThis is a song of admission but also one that offers great hope. Admission that everyone, no matter their deeds, good or bad, or however they may be regarded in life by others, will die someday. That will happen. But yet there is hope as well that after death, as we know it, there will be a continuation of our existence in some yet to be seen way. “Gravedigger, when you dig my grave, would you make it shallow so that I can feel the rain” is a metaphor for that hope, that we will somehow still “feel” even after our death. It’s a beautiful thought.
• AnonymousTo see original version of music video u need vpn for europe
• Mbeezus from 29466"It's kind of these different stories that are brought together by walking through a graveyard with their names and the dates of their births and their deaths, and the stories that came out of their lives. It's sort of just telling those stories and some others as you wander through a graveyard and what you might think if you could walk into the graves and find out what people went through to get there." - direct quote from Dave about the song
• Josiah from Menifee CaSo David from Ohio I Googled "david mathews sucks" and legit I swear this is what I found. I think it's pretty funny considering how mad you are that pretty much everyone enjoys their music. But yeah here is the answer to your statement:
  
  A truly talented band. People who are musically uneducated and narrow-minded tend to hate them. Many trash them without listening to their music. CD-recordings do them no justice, if you honestly want to hear all that is "DMB", attend a live concert. Carter, Leroi, and Boyd basically make the band, with Dave's voice topping the cake. Anyone that says they are talentless has no musical taste. There's a difference between not liking a band's music and thinking they suck.
• Emma from Caledonia, NyIs it horrible that i love this song? i suppose .. i dont know..
• Tom from Bowmanville, On"1940-1990... too (as in writing a letter) grave digger when you dig my grave, could you make it shallow. So that I could feel the rain.
  
  doesn't mean anything except for maybe he's depressed and that this song is about death.
  
  but I could be wrong
• John from Columbus, Ohsorry I did the math wrong 3 to the back to many shows
• John from Columbus, OhAdd two years to the front and back 1940+2=1942, 1992+2=1995.. Wasn't that the years of Jerry? I do believe Jerry was cremated and split up in two different areas both being water. I don't know just a thought.
• Matt from Cedar Rapids, Iaexcerpt from wiki on dave - In 1974, the family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year before returning to New York, where his father died from lung cancer in 1977. so that puts an end to mr vertigo being dad. PAUL AUSTER wrote Mr. Vertigo, and its a pretty good read
• Tom from Long Island, Ny1940 to 1992 was when Mr Vertigo died"....when he grows up he wants to be Mr Vertigo on the flying trapize, oh 1940 to 1992. Also Ring around the Rosie is about the Bubonic Plague.
• Peggy from Santa Clara, CaThe 1940 to 1992 dates refer back to "Mr. Vertigo on the flying trapeze". The irony of the little boy wanting to be "Mr. Vertigo" when he "grows up"; when the boy dies many years before his hero...
• Paul from Shirley, NyI had a friend who was the biggest dave mathews band fan... within a week or two of him passing in a car accident this song came out. I always feel like this was a song made for him.
• Riley from Los Angeles, Caok, its not its not 1940-1992 its...wait for it... 1940 to 1990 toooo
  he's saying that mr.vertigo died toooo
  and this song is just about death
• Jakob from Watauga Texas, TxThis song is about death, period. It doesn't matter how old or young you are, no matter what walks of life you come from, we are all mortal and eventually..."We all fall down" dave matthew's is trying to make the point not to scare you butt remind you..eventually everybody's time will come.
• Harrison from Sanantonio, Tx1940-1992 is refering to his fathers life
• Walker from Clackamas, OrIsn't this song actually on Dave's solo album, they list it as the whole band playing. They may have contributed but I think it was just him.
• Dave from Howell, NjThis song is about death, period. It doesn't matter how old or young you are, no matter what walks of life you come from, we are all mortal and eventually..."We all fall down".
• Vinny from Durham, NcScott, I always thought 1940-1992 were the dates Mr. Vertigo lived.
• Scott from Cincinnati, OhIn this song, Dave has names with every date except "1940 to 1992", so I thought he intended this date to have significant meaning. I could be wrong, but i don't think Cyrus Jones, Murial Stonewall, etc. were actual people. I did research on google to find meaning to 1940-1992, the only real match was an artist named Angela Carter, most likely not what Dave was talking about. Anyone have any idea about this date, or why he used it?
• Wendell from Mars, United StatesI feel that this song was written with Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology in mind.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_River_Anthology
• Matt from E. Hanover, Nji feel as though when Dave sings "So that i can feel the rain" it is much deeper than still feeling alive. I'm not trying to downplay whatever you guys said, but i think that there is more to it. Dave mentions rain in many other of his songs such as in #41 when he says "Why won't your run into rain and play, and let tears splash all over you."
• Matthew from Milford, MaOooh, excuse us for trying to argue with an idiot... (sic-Devon-sic)
• Madalyn from Greensburg, Pasad song but i love it and he is a good singer...
• Ren from Salem, MaAnyone who would honestly waste time on making a site on someone they don't, Has MAJOY issues in life. I would feel sorry for them!
• Dave from Toronto, CanadaSteve - According to DMB's official site, his father died in 1977, not 1992.
  
  Devon - A Google search for "Dave Matthews is great" or "Dave Matthews rocks" returns MILLIONS of hits. What are you trying to prove here?
  Personally, I think he's a great singer. So what if there is a small population of people who think he sucks?
  (bummer, I guess I'm now a "looser" for defending him...)
• Devon from Westerville, OhWhoever told Dave he could sing is obviously tone deaf. Any one who defends Dave is more of a looser than I am. I dare you to google Dave Matthews sucks and see how many sites pop up. There's more Dave haters out there than just me. So Byeeeee.
• Chassedy from Sacramento, CaThank you Noah
• Chassedy from Sacramento, CaSteve you post a very good point we should hook up
• Tiffany from Conroe, TxActually, this song isn't from the band. This song is from just Dave Matthews. This song came out when he went solo for that short time. It's only on the Dave Matthews CD. It never came out on a DMB CD.
• Devon from Westerville, Ohthis song would be better if Dave wasn't involved. or any of his other songs for that matter.
  
• Mackenzie from Blessington, Canadawow, i have heard about a thousand different stories about dave's father and his sister or sisters i don;t even know anymore. But i'm pretty sure that dav's dad died before 1992 cuz his dad died when dave was in his childhood...didn;t he?
• Imcw from Cananda, Canadahey, i was listin to this one again today and it just kinda hit me, i havnt researched a whole lot but to me it talks about how life will bury you with its responsibilities, sadness, and such. I think he was saying how his dad maybe got buried with life and so he never really got to accomplish his dreams. Now hes asking that when people bury him that they wont bury him too deep in life so that he will still feel and such, and also that he'll be able to accompish all his dreams. So yeah, basicaly that he doesnt want too much sadness or 'strife' or w/e in his life like his dad. well i think it sounds pretty deep haha, but yeah, w/e it is, i agree with everyone else that its an intense song. happy listenin!
• Gabe from New York, NyThis song was NOT written about his sister's death.
  
  It was however commenly played on the 2002 summer tour as en encore, which dave would either play it solo or with Carter on drums. it didn't "work" in the studio, so dave took it to a project with the Dave & Friends band (which included Trey from Phish). This isn't even a Dave Matthews Band song..
• Steve from Sacramento, CaAt the end of the last verse of the song Dave sings " 1940 to 1992" which is the years his father lived.
• Scott from Fairfax, VaI think this song is about Dave facing the fact that he is going to die. And referring back to the comment into the CD case, he just hopes he has made use of his life for others to be proud of what he has done before he does die. The ages of all the fictional or possibly non fictional characters he sings about bring about the fact that the old, middle aged, and young can all succumb to death. I feel the reference to the ring around the posie is something that death has been around for a while since that songs is about the black plague or something like that i cant quite remember. The chorus about being buried shallow to feel the rain is in my opinon his attempt to not fully leave this world. Since rain, water is the symbol of life.
• Jenn from Cleveland, OhThis song was after his sister was murdered.
• John from Philadelphia, PaTalk about depressing....but hey great song.
• Brett from Philadelphia, PaDave makes a constant reference to the devil and death with the analogy of the "child riding his bike like the devil until the day he died" and the title of the cd being "Some Devil". "Ring around the Rosy" is also an old child game whos refers to the devil and death. Although I agree with Ben about its a song about life after death, in my opinion, "gravedigger" isnt't just that but more of a sensitive side to how he is still feeling about the loss of his father. Whatever it is, it's one hell of a song.
• Ben from Harpers Ferry, WvThe people in the song are not real, at least not to my knowledge. The song is about the lives of three people and the chorus is asking to be buried shallow so that he can feel the rain. In my opinion, a song about life after death.
• Corey from Vancouver, Canadaare these real people?
• Meredith from Toronto, CanadaDave said that this albumwas his most complete lyrically. He was so proud of himself for killing off two characters in the third verse. A young boy, and the boy's idol, who was also dead. Pretty clevwer if you ask me
• Noah from Jacobstown, Njthis was the first single off of the Dave Matthews solo album, Some Devil

More Songfacts:

GhosttownMadonna

"Ghosttown" was Madonna's 45th chart-topper on the Dance Club Songs chart, breaking the record for the most #1s an artist has tallied on a single Billboard chart.

St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)John Parr

"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" was not written for the movie, but for Rick Hanson, a wheelchair athlete whose 1985 "Man In Motion" tour logged 24,856 miles on his wheelchair in 34 countries while raising $26 million for spinal cord research.

LevonElton John

Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin got the name "Levon" from Levon Helm, who was the drummer in The Band.

Hash PipeWeezer

MTV wanted Weezer to record a version of their song "Hash Pipe" as "Half Pipe" to appeal to the skateboarding crowd. The band refused, and MTV listed the song as "H*** Pipe."

Free BirdLynyrd Skynyrd

The "Free Bird" lyric, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" was something Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitarist's girlfriend said to him during a fight.

Brand New BookTrain

Train wrote the 2011 song "Brand New Book" for the TV show The Biggest Loser - part of the song was used in the opening credits.

Editor's Picks

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song

Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.