Does anyone know the meaning behind the lyrics of "Ode to My Family"? 

http://www.helium.com/tm/237988

 

I haven't exactly understood what that link has to do with your question, katq.  Anyway, Ode To My Family is... an ode to Dolores' family, as its title points out.  I don't know why many people are looking for some mysterious or even morbid meaning behind this beautiful song...  Dolores has often explained in her interviews that the song was inspired by the times she would miss her family when her career used to keep her far away for a long time.  It's as simple as that, but many people are not always convinced by simple explanations.

Luca:

I don't know why many people are looking for some mysterious or even morbid meaning behind this beautiful song...

Simply because it seems to be talking about HER and HER youth... Most of all the fans of The Cranberries surely know that Dolores' childhood was not as beautiful as the blue of the sky.
Her mother did not care about her as much as she did about her brothers, simply because she was a girl. At that time being a girl was not an advantage for your parents because they could not make you work hard to earn money. ["unhappiness, was when I was young"]
In the song she clearly mentions the love of her father. In an interview she was talking about that special relationship she had with him and the fact he was careful with his lovely daughter. ["my father oh he like me, does anyone care ?"]
So for me there is another meaning then simply what...

Luca:

Dolores has often explained in her interviews about the song being inspired by the times she would miss her family when her career used to keep her far away for a long time.

even if she is clearly talking about that in the song ["my mother, did she hold me when I was out there ?"].
For me it is a kind of way to adress a message to her family and espacily to her mother in order to show her that she did not really count for her. When she was young as well as when she was grown up. For me she wanted to prouve, that whatever happend to her, it was not important. The love her father seemed to mean so much for her, but noone gave a damn about it.
 

Droless:

"Unhappiness, was when I was young"

I'm afraid I don't agree with part of your interpretation, Droless, but maybe I'm wrong.  For instance, you mention the verse that says "Unhappiness, was when I was young", but in the previous strophe the verse is slightly but significantly different, "Unhappiness, where's when I was young".  If you read the whole strophe, it seems mainly nostalgic:

Unhappiness, where's when I was young [it seems to have the opposite meaning]
And we didn't give a damn
'Cause we were raised
To see life as fun and take it if we can

"We were raised to see life as fun and take it if we can" doesn't seem a definition for unhappiness.

Droless:

"My mother, did she hold me when I was out there?"

I'm afraid you're taking this verse out of context.  If you read it in combination with the previous one, it suggests a different meaning:

My mother, my mother she hold me, [affirmative!]
Did she hold me when I was out there

It seems to mean: my mother used to hold me when I was a child, but did she hold me when I was out there (out there, around the world touring with the band)?

Droless:

Her mother did not care about her as much as she did about her brothers, simply because she was a girl. At that time being a girl was not an advantage for your parents because they could not make you work hard to earn money.

At that time?  You're very young, Droless, so Dolores' birth year may appear far away in history to you, but I happen to be born in 1971 too, like our beloved Dolores, and...  Hey, we're not prehistoric specimens!   Maybe being a girl was more difficult than being a boy in the most rural parts of Ireland, yet there are so many famous Irishwomen born in the early seventies, that I wouldn't be so sure!  By the way, perhaps Dolores' childhood was not as beautiful as the blue sky, but I guess anyone of us would find some lights and shades, if we look back at our childhood, don't you think?

Anyway, the aim of my reply was not to decide if Dolores' childhood was good or bad.  I'm just a bit disturbed by those who look for some kind of morbid meaning in that special relationship between Dolores and her father (I'm not referring to you, of course).  Because, in the end, let's be honest: this is the real reason why so many people often ask for the presumed concealed meaning of the lyrics.  You and me, we're just discussing about the meaning of a song we love: we may not agree about everything, but we're both trying to understand what it means.  Those who are always looking for mobidity bother me instead, because I'm pretty sure they're completely distorting what Dolores meant to say.

It was a very interesting reply !!!

Thank you so much because I did not even noticed that I made a mistake... It is right that she sing "where's when I was young" not "was when I was young".
It is helping me so much !!!
 

Luca:

Droless:

Her mother did not care about her as much as she did about her brothers, simply because she was a girl. At that time being a girl was not an advantage for your parents because they could not make you work hard to earn money.

At that time?  You're very young, Droless, so Dolores' birth year may appear far away in history to you, but I happen to be born in 1971 too, like our beloved Dolores, and...  Hey, we're not prehistoric specimens!   Maybe being a girl was more difficult than being a boy in the most rural parts of Ireland, yet there are so many famous Irishwomen born in the early seventies, that I wouldn't be so sure!  By the way, perhaps Dolores' childhood was not as beautiful as the blue sky, but I guess anyone of us would find some lights and shades, if we look back at our childhood, don't you think?

Anyway, the aim of my reply was not to decide if Dolores' childhood was good or bad.  I'm just a bit disturbed by those who look for some kind of morbid meaning in that special relationship between Dolores and her father (I'm not referring to you, of course).  Because, in the end, let's be honest: this is the real reason why so many people often ask for the presumed concealed meaning of the lyrics.  You and me, we're just discussing about the meaning of a song we love: we may not agree about everything, but we're both trying to understand what it means.  Those who are always looking for mobidity bother me instead, because I'm pretty sure they're completely distorting what Dolores meant to say.

 

Luca -

I had the same exact reaction as you "at that time???" LOL

I'm 33 years old, only 2 years younger than Dolores, and at no point in my childhood did I feel that I was useless to my family because I was just a girl. I think those days got washed out with the dirty water far back before either myself, Luca, or Dolores were born....thankfully! LOL

That being said, it's always nice to hear everyones takes on the songs. I would rather the artist does not say what the song is about, and just let everyone come to their own conclusions on them.

Kelly 

Haha, Kelly, that's a nice proposal!

3 weeks ago when I went to Dolores, she sung Ode to my family. And then she said: This song I wrote when I was touring and I missed my family. (or something like this)...

Eline:

3 weeks ago when I went to Dolores, she sung Ode to my family. And then she said: This song I wrote when I was touring and I missed my family. (or something like this)...

Yes, Eline, this (or something like this) is what I heard her say too.  There's a verse in the lyrics that should wipe away any doubt about what she meant with that song: the verse just says

But I miss you

Moreover, the title of the song couldn't be more explicit: an ode is "a kind of poem devoted to the praise of a person, animal, or thing" (definition of The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy).

YAWWWWWWWWN

 

 

Does every song have to be anylised and disected

just listen and let them tell the story

im sorry if what i say will hurt or shock anyone but 

this is what i understand from this song...

 first line she say "Understand the things I say" meaning she want us to take a deeper look

so it like this... her father raped her for years (half her life)

her mother knew about it and might even helped him raping her

they raised her to see life as fun and  take the pain if she can

"out there" is a place in her head she went when she was raped

she keep asking in the song all the time if anyone care

shes screaming for justice in this song.

if you ask her for the truth she wont say it cuz she dont want to put her family in shame or she still afried from her father... but the song say it all.

i have alot more to say but my english isnt that good so i cant expres my self right... each sentence on this song have a deep meaning.

ohadtes:

her father raped her for years (half her life)

her mother knew about it and might even helped him raping her

Congratulations for your imagination, ohadtes.

But in my opinion a fan shouldn't be entitled to give such a strong interpretation, mostly if it's based on nothing but pure conjectures.  Even if you're talking about a famous person, who is necessarily forced to have a public life besides a private one, it doesn't mean you can say about her and her family everything that comes to your mind.  You can't talk about a woman and say "her father raped her for half her life" and "her mother might even helped him raping her", if you haven't any actual evidence about that.  It's a heavy lack of respect towards Dolores and her family.

By the way, when I listen to Ode To My Family, I can never understand what such interpretations have to do with the lyrics and the music of the song.  Just listen to the music, without considering the lyrics for awhile: does it sound like the scream of a girl raped for years by her family?  Doesn't it sound more like what its title clearly says it is, an ode?  Do you know what an ode is?  Have you ever heard an ode to a rapist?

Congratulations for your imagination, ohadtes.

But in my opinion a fan shouldn't be entitled to give such a strong interpretation, mostly if it's based on nothing but pure conjectures.  Even if you're talking about a famous person, who is necessarily forced to have a public life besides a private one, it doesn't mean you can say about her and her family everything that comes to your mind.  You can't talk about a woman and say "her father raped her for half her life" and "her mother might even helped him raping her", if you haven't any actual evidence about that.  It's a heavy lack of respect towards Dolores and her family.

i didnt say its a fact... i only say what i my self understand from this song
i know its hard to think this way.
you can understand anything else you want, i dont say your wrong.

 

By the way, when I listen to Ode To My Family, I can never understand what such interpretations have to do with the lyrics and the music of the song.  Just listen to the music, without considering the lyrics for awhile: does it sound like the scream of a girl raped for years by her family?  Doesn't it sound more like what its title clearly says it is, an ode?  Do you know what an ode is?  Have you ever heard an ode to a rapist?

watch a live show of her when she sings this song she cant make an eye contact with anyone and she sound like shes forcing her self to sing it and can burst in tears in any second.

ohadtes:

i didnt say its a fact... i only say what i my self understand from this song

i know its hard to think this way.
you can understand anything else you want, i don't say your wrong.

It's too subtle a distinction, you can't get off that way.  Conjectures like yours can spread across the world, no matter if they're right or wrong, no matter whether you think they're facts or you just understand things that way.  They can hurt people anyway.  Just think if you were Dolores, or her father, or her mother, and you knew that some people around the world were diffusing such stories about you: how would you feel if those stories were completely false?

Of course everyone is free to think what they want, but I don't think every opinion can be freely and publicly expressed, if that opinion means casting horrible accusations on somebody – because that's what your hypothesis does, even if you try to mitigate it saying that you don't know if it's a fact.

ohadtes:

watch a live show of her when she sings this song she cant make an eye contact with anyone and she sound like shes forcing her self to sing it and can burst in tears in any second.

It's another conjecture.  You didn't answer my last questions, though: Do you know what an ode is?  Have you ever heard about an ode dedicated to a rapist father?

It's too subtle a distinction, you can't get off that way.  Conjectures like yours can spread across the world, no matter if they're right or wrong, no matter whether you think they're facts or you just understand things that way.  They can hurt people anyway.  Just think if you were Dolores, or her father, or her mother, and you knew that some people around the world were diffusing such stories about you: how would you feel if those stories were completely false?

Of course everyone is free to think what they want, but I don't think every opinion can be freely and publicly expressed, if that opinion means casting horrible accusations on somebody – because that's what your hypothesis does, even if you try to mitigate it saying that you don't know if it's a fact

 

 like i said on my frist post, i didnt try to hurt anyone and im not trying to make a propaganda.
when i saw this subject it make me think more people were thinking what i think and the only resson i posted here is because im searching for the truth...
id like to believe that what i think is wrong but it seem so true to me.
you are right...maybe i should have kept it for my self... you think i should delete thos posts? id never want to hurt dolores in anyway...

 

It's another conjecture.  You didn't answer my last questions, though: Do you know what an ode is?  Have you ever heard about an ode dedicated to a rapist father?

 i was sure ode stands for balade(not sure i wrote it right) in my lenguage... but i see i was wrong.
can you tell me what is a ode?

ohadtes:

when i saw this subject it make me think more people were thinking what i think

It's not surprising that many people think what you think: morbidity always attracts many people and lots of people are eager to find something morbid in every story. 

ohadtes:

i was sure ode stands for balade(not sure i wrote it right) in my lenguage... but i see i was wrong. can you tell me what is a ode?

Ode doesn't stand for ballad.  Here's the definition I found in The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (I already posted it in this thread, you didn't notice it):
"A kind of poem devoted to the praise of a person, animal, or thing."

I guess a daughter would never devote a praise to a rapist father, don't you think?