Doesn't Mean A Thing

Well I never knew my mother But I can't say it was so bad She was still a girl of seventeen The night she met my dad He was just six months out of Chino Trying his hardest to stay clean And they'd sing, and they'd sing, and they'd sing Like doves sleeping with broken wings In a bed fit for a king "It didn't mean a thing" It was a shotgun-forced wedding But they forgot to bring the guns They were too busy counting promises To the children not yet born No one could afford the ride They just hitched up the 101 But they'd sing, and they'd sing, and they'd sing Like doves dancing with broken wings With a music for a king "It didn't mean a thing" There was a loneliness, they would confess Like the world had gone bad I guess So they'd hold hands looking into the eyes of god And they'd say tell me why'd you hide from us Why'd you fill this world with wickedness Why'd you spare us from your grace But not the rod Now my dad says fuck the details You just keep your head down hard You gotta find yourself alone before you'll find the eyes of God You may be broken, scared, and battered, dear I confess to your hearts dreams But you were born to be a peasant not a king So just stop acting like you're running from something You gotta leave the way you came without a thing With your heart tied to your mind tied to a string And you sing, and you sing, and you sing "It doesn't mean a thing"