Beatles: Golden Slumbers Meaning

Song Released: 1969

Golden Slumbers Lyrics

Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby

Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   joeo

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   Mar 14th 2009 !⃝

   Paul visits his father years after his mothers death. He is now successful and grown but misses, grieves and loves his mother. He misses his parents, his family and childhood family memories and home. His father had remarried and he now has a stepsister. He sits down on the Piano and opens his Step Sisters songbook but he cannot make heads or tails of a composition in it. Instead he writes his own lullaby. Paul is comforting himself the way his mother comforted him. For many of us when we lose our mums home is never the same. Once's mother most times is the heart of most families. Therefore a sad but comforting lullaby. "Once there was a way to get back home......Sleep little darling do not cry and I will sing a lullaby, Golden Slumbers.....Paul still remebers the love warmth and nurturing that his mum was in his life.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   har0462

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   Aug 28th 2009 !⃝

   The words are taken from the poem of The same name by Thomas Dekker (1572 - 1632). They are almost verbatim, but modernised a bit. This is the poem by Dekker.
   
   Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
   Smiles awake you when you rise ;
   Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
   And I will sing a lullaby,
   Rock them, rock them, lullaby.
   Care is heavy, therefore sleep you,
   You are care, and care must keep you ;
   Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
   And I will sing a lullaby,
   Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Feb 19th 2017 !⃝

   Based on the melody, lyrics, and accompanying song, Carry that Weight, (instead of stretching to tie it to Beatles'/McCartney's lives/life) it's about a boy trying to comfort a girl. He seems to have committed himself to her and in Carry that Weight, she responds and warns him that he'll have to "carry that weight a long time". She feels she will always be miserable and that there's nothing he can do to help her. She won't sleep next to him "I'll never give you my pillow", and "in the middle of celebrations I break down". She has probably been abused, but he loves her and just wants to make her happy.
4. anonymous

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   Mar 8th 2020 !⃝

   I believe that an emotionally-charged song or poem like this one can be interpreted by the person who who listens to the song or who reads it, as in the case of poetry. What this song sadly means to me are the memories of the wonderful young men who were KIA or committed suicide while I was a drafted combat infantryman in Vietnam. Our horrific primary mission was to be used as bait to draw fire from the super complex/tunneled NVA bunker system, that was so well camoflauged it could not even be detected even from the air. BTW, no sergeant or above, including all those moronic ROTC grads, would accompany us on those missions nor would they during our very unusual forays into the field, aka, the bush. I was wounded twice, the second time incurring sixteen wounds, followed by > 8 months in various military hospitals, including our MASH-like med facility at our base camp in Vietnam. They could not fly me out to an Army Tokyo for more than 3 weeks because I had a chest evac tube inserted into the right side of my rib cage due to a bullet that went through my right bicep and into my right lung. Even at 72, I will always remember them and think about them every day. ..Tim
5. anonymous

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   Jan 16th 2020 !⃝

   I've been singing along with this for years, and really love the version by "Cheaptrick, Mcartney" it just dawned on me what i might be singing along with.. it sounds like an encounter at a sleepover- "i never offered you my pillow" -he wasn't allowed to stay the night, just a brief visit. And, now he's going to carry that weight of financial and emotional cost of a pregnancy through life.
6. BeatleDoc

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   Oct 11th 2006 !⃝

   Helterskelter is correct, but his/her interpretation applies to the last two verses. The first verse is a lament by Paul that the Beatles can't return to being the four lads that they were early in their careers. They were close friends who had fallen apart. Thus, they can't "get back homeward."
7. HelterSkelter

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   May 6th 2006 !⃝

   This song is based on Thomas Dekker's Lullaby that went something like "Golden slumbers kiss your eyes/smiles awake you when you rise/sleep pretty wantons, do not cry/and I will sing a lullaby." Paul found the music for the lullaby at a relatives house, but couldn't read music so he made up his own and kept the words . . . Talented SOB! Beautiful song. If you like this one check out Good night. Lennon wrote that for his son who was having trouble sleeping. oddly enough ringo sings it (Ringo's voice is a much better choice anyhow, check it out and see for your self). Enjoy!

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