anyway, its a killer song!

// Sweden

I think [b]Someday never comes[/b] talks a bout the "wheel of life" in general, and the father in this song had to serve his time for war.
Everyone has to get to an end, but the "wheel of life" will never stop. That's why [b]Someday[/b] never comes, and [b]Someday[/b] is the day that people living in peace.

All of you are missing the point. There was WW I. Then WWII. Then the Vietnam War. Each of these wars consumed one generation of men after another. Men usually went off to war just after they started a family. Imagine the young father telling his young son as he goes off to war, "Try to be a man and someday, you will understand." Someday never comes because just as you are old enough to understand, you go off to war and you are killed. That is why "someday" never comes. The song is trying to convey the tragedy of war. It starts off with a very somber and thoughful beat and ends in the same way. It is a song that is so poignant and expressive that when you grasp the meaning of the sorrow that war inflicts upon families, tears come. Listen to the tone of the music and the lyrics and the meaning will dawn upon you.

As an adjunct to the note I just wrote, I might add that I first thought the song was describing the breakup of families perpetuated through the generations by errant fathers, but that has really been something more prevalent in the last 50 years. Keeping in mind the song was written 30 years ago, when divorces were just starting to become more prevalent, I feel the song more likely describes men going off to war. The departure of the father and subsequently the singer from their families in the lyrics seems very permanent and deep, implying that the young son will never see his father again.

I believe it is about a father trying to explain to his son that he is going off to war, to kill people. Now, saying that in those words is very blunt, so he avoids the explanation by saying, son, someday you'll understand, and i think the point the song is trying to make, is that it is hard to find a real and plausible reason for war in the first place. So, i think that by the father telling his son, someday you'll understand, he's implying that he doesnt really understand it himself, hence, "someday never comes".

-hope that made any sense

I think we are on the same plane. In the past century, wars were frequent, and successive generations of men went off to fight war and died. In the song, he mentions that years and tears went by as I collected dust. To me, that implies that his father never returned... he must have died. Death is permanent and mothers and their sons must listen and recognize that someday never comes: war never ceases, and young men will always go off to the battlefield and die. The song made me think of relatives that went off to foreign lands at an early age never to return. What a tragic end to life. We take life for granted these days.

Well im only 16 here, but my parents went through a divorce, and i think i can kinda relate to this song. I'm thinkin its about john fogerty's father leaving him and telling him that "Someday you'll understand". Yet that day never came, and he eventually did the same thing, and he sings about leaving his son, telling him "Someday you'll understand." All the while he's singin in the chorus speaking to the 'mother's song', which would be people that were raised by their mother, and never really had a father. He's telling those people that you need to learn it on your own, and hopefully 'break the cycle'. So that you don't do the same to your kids. So I'm thinkin its about Divorce and how important it is to have a father.

let me know if you think this is a pretty good explination...

-eilert

Your explanation seems plausible. I guess from what I gathered in the song's tone, the loss expressed seems forever (with divorce, you still have your father, to some extent, unless he leaves and never sees you again). When the father goes off to war and dies, that's it. Never to be seen again. But you are correct in that both circumstances involve loss and pain. You have gained much wisdom for your age and I hope you will put it to good use and seek happiness. Peace to you.

What a beautiful song, i cannot stop listening to it. The song itself, almost makes me emotional especially when you relate it to your own life. GOD BLESS

I like the way he keeps some of the lyrics a bit vauge. The repeated references to going away could mean divorce, war, or just death - The parsings so far on this board have all made sense to me. My mom died recently, and this song has been seed fodder for a few good cathartic cries ( I realize the song's about a father and son, but emotions are, by definition, irrational)