anonymous December 14th, 2006 07:37PM  
This song is a look at intergenerational issues in the whole 60s/70s time period.

It says "teach your children well" because its telling parents to teach their children how they deal with life and the lessons they've learned from their own experiences ("their father's hell").

It says that sometimes intergenerational dialogue isn't easy: "Don't you ever ask them why/ if they told you you would cry/ so just look at them and sigh/ and know they love you..."
This is basically an appeal to both sides of the "generation gap" (the parents and children) to remember that even if they don't understand the other group's logic, reasoning, or motivation, just remember that they still love you deep down and try to just get along.

and it's a beautiful song.

anonymous July 30th, 2009 11:51PM  
This song is a call for parents and children to try to understand that each generation goes through it's own kind of "hell" (growing pains/life issues) and that each should respect that and learn from each other. The genius of this song is in the first verse, "and so become yourself, because the past is just a good bye". You can't become your parents because their life was different from yours and once the past is gone it's gone for good. So, be true to yourself and "become yourself". I didn't even notice that verse until this year when I was examining my own past.