Artist: The Cranberries
Released on: No Need To Argue (Track #1)
Duration: 4:32

LYRICS

tu tu lu tu
tu tu lu tu
tu tu lu tu
tu tu lu tu

Understand the things I say
Don’t turn away from me
Cause I spent half my life out there
You wouldn’t disagree

D’you see me (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
D’you see
Do you like me
Do you like me standing there
D’you notice (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
D’you know
Do you see me
Do you see me
Does anyone care

Unhappiness
Where’s when I was young
And we didn’t give a damn
‘Cause we were raised
To see life as fun
And take it if we can

My mother (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
My mo’ she hold me
She hold me
When I was out there
My father (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
My father he liked me
Oh he liked me
Does anyone care

Understand what I’ve become
It wasn’t my design
And people everywhere think some-
-thing better than I am

I miss you (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
I miss ’cause I liked it
Cause I liked it
When I was out there
D’you know this (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
D’you know
You did not find me
You did not find
Does anyone care

Unhappiness
Where’s when I was young
And we didn’t give a damn
‘Cause we were raised
To see life as fun
And take it if we can

My mother (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
My mo’ she hold me
She hold me
When I was out there
My father (a-aaaaaa-aa-aaaah)
My father he liked me
Oh he liked me
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
Does anyone care

tu tu lu tu
tu tu lu tu
tu tu lu tu
tu tu lu tu

CREDIT INFORMATION

Music by Noel Hogan & Dolores O’Riordan
Lyrics by Dolores O’Riordan
Produced and Engineered by Stephen Street assisted by Julie Gardiner
Recorded and Mixed at The Manor Studios, Oxford and the Townhouse Studios, London
All string written & directed by Dolores O’Riordan
Published by Island Music Ltd 1994

MEANING

On 9 January 1994 in an interview given to the Irish Times newspaper, Dolores explained that on No Need to Argue, “there’s […] songs like Ode To My Family which isn’t very rock’n’roll, it’s about my parents and growing up in Limerick.” She added: “Ode To My Family is a paean to the simple old days and the warmth and security of family life.” (Hot Press · January 1994)
Dolores (Hot Press · Novembre 2002) “You know who really gets that song? People who’ve lost their parents. It breaks their heart listening to that song, ‘cos they go, Why didn’t I tell them when they were alive? They go through that weird self-consciousness about certain relationships.”

NOTES

“Ode to My Family” is the 2nd single from “No Need To Argue” and was released in November 1994.
Fergal, “Did Dolores have any reservations about that song being so personal? No, she never has. We’ve often spoken about that and it’s like, she just writes the song and gets out whatever’s on her mind and then it’s released and you don’t really think about the consequences until you start getting the backlash or whatever. If you start worrying about what people will say if I do this or that, then you won’t be yourself and you won’t be honest, and that’s why we do what we do. Basically there are no rules, that’s the whole great idea of rock’n’roll; when you’re 17 or 18 it’s like, fuck them, I can do what I want. You just have to not care what people think.” (Hot Press “Cranberries Special” · November 2002)
During the concert in Montreal in May 2012, Dolores dedicated the song to her father who passed away in November 2011.
In an interview to “Le Télégramme” in November 2012, Dolores explained that at that time she couldn’t sing this song anymore because of the death of her father, so during the European Leg of the Roses Tour she didn’t sing it at all except at the last concert of the Tour in Montbéliard where she let the crowd sing all the lines linked to her father.
Lyrics on this page were transcribed by our team and aim to be the exact ones (even including all the la la la’s as much as possible).
Above photo of the official lyrics off the “NNTA” commercial CD, catalog number CID 8029 524 050-2

Ode To My Family

LYRICS

CREDIT INFORMATION

MEANING

NOTES