☝️ Key Points
- The song is about a young woman who is married to a young husband and feels uncertain about her decision.
- The father of the young woman believes that the husband will be rich and successful in the future.
- The story takes a tragic turn when the husband dies young.
- Despite the tragedy, the narrator remembers the beautiful moments she had with her husband.
- The song emphasizes that the husband, despite his young age, matures and grows over time.
Interpretation
The song lyrics "Young but Growing" by
Donovan tell a story about love and growing up. In the song, it's about a young woman who married a boy who is very young. She is desperate because she thinks he is too immature for marriage. She asks her father to recognize the mistake and to continue sending her husband to school so he can mature.
However, the father responds that he has done nothing wrong and that the young woman's husband comes from a wealthy family. He believes that the husband will become rich and a lord in the future. However, the young woman is still unsure and suggests tying blue ribbons around her husband's head to signal to other women that he is already married.
The story takes a tragic turn when the husband gets married at the age of 15 and becomes a father to a son at 16. However, at the age of 17, he dies and the grass grows over his grave. Despite the tragedy, the narrator remembers the beautiful moments she had with her husband.
Overall, the song lyrics are about the challenges that come with growing up and the difficulty of making decisions about love and marriage when you are still young. The repetition of the line "He's young but he's daily growing" emphasizes that the husband, despite his young age, matures and grows over time.