What does Stay Together For The Kids mean?

Blink-182: Stay Together For The Kids Meaning

Tagged: Divorce [suggest]
Album cover for Stay Together For The Kids album cover

Song Released: 2002


Stay Together For The Kids Lyrics

It's hard to wake up
When the shades have been pulled shut
This house is haunted
It's so pathetic
It makes no sense at all.
I'm ripe with things to say
The words rot and fall away.
If a stupid poem could fix this home
I'd read it every...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 11th 2006 !⃝

    This song is pretty easy to grasp the concept of:

    "So here's your holiday, hope you enjoy it this time"
    The 'holiday' is the divorce, and the singer sarcastically hopes they 'enjoy' it, though it probably won't be any better

    "You gave it all away, it was mine"
    This refers to 'giving away' the family by splitting up, the family was his and he is angry about this

    "So when you're dead and gone, will you remember this night?"
    'This night' is the night where the parents probably had the last fight leading up to the divorce, and the singer is basically saying that they probably won't even remember what happened (so its 'pointless')

    "Twenty years now lost, its not right"
    Pretty obvious, they were married for 20 years and now its all down the drain, its not right

    The 1st & 2nd verses are pretty self explanitory



    And in my opinion, Angels and Airwaves is a really good band. Its completely different from Blink 182, and some people may not like that. But that's what it is, DIFFERENT. You can't compare the two just because they share a singer. And Tom's personality is still there, being in a different band doesn't change that. You people just have to realize that he's a grown man now, with a wife and kids (well, she's pregnant with his 2nd child, a boy now), and he can't be silly & sing about sophomoric topics anymore.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 15th 2005 !⃝

    Tom wrote this song in his driveway when he was 16. His parents had just told them they were getting a divorce, and he went outside and sat in his car and wrote the lyrics to this song.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 16th 2014 !⃝

    This song has an awful meaning behind it basically saying I don't care about your problems or if your unhappy just stay together for me because I'm a selfish prick

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 24th 2012 !⃝

    This song is so relateable if you have parents who are divorced. Thanks for yet another meaningful song Blink-182. All bands today seem to only care about writing anthems about drugs and sex, thats not what music should be about. Blink 182 in particular I think does a tremendous job in incorporating meanings into their songs especially in this song and "Adams Song". By making relateable music it allows us to humanize Mark, Tom, and Travis, and in my opinion it makes them more admirable. Thanks guys!

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 11th 2012 !⃝

    It is unamious that this is a song about devorce, and that the perspective is that of a child's feelings in reguards to his/her parents devorce (and the life of his broken family that led up to said devorce).
    I inturperate this song to represent the feelings of neglect and inconsideration of the child, by his parents during the devorce. I my be inturpereting this through my experience, but spouces going through devorce often become selfish and petty. It is a reasonable responce to the tremendous amount of emotional pain they are experiancing through the process, but it hurts the kids who are also in a state of great trauma.
    One of the greatest failings of the American sociaty (as well as other sociaties) is that we ignore the state of pain children (and the adult kids) of devorce's.
    The line, "you threw it all away. It was mine!" is a perticular tear jerker for me.

    One last point of interest, though this may be a strech. i was confused about the first two lines for a long time, until one day i thought that the author might be saying, that it is hard to recognise your problems (and the role you play in them) when you are perpusly (perhapes subcontiously) hiding from them. A state i have known several people in my life in. And i may have been tempted to it once or twice.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 12th 2011 !⃝

    My parents have been divorced since I was about 8. It's been hard to live through because of fights between them AFTER the divorce. But this song always makes me feel better about because I know that other people have been through this as well.

    Blink is the best!!

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 4th 2010 !⃝

    Yep.. divorce.. mine split when I was 16 and this song says it all.

  8. bluboy973
    click a star to vote
    Aug 19th 2009 !⃝

    this song means a lot to me tom wrote this when he found out his parents were getting a divorce and he was really bummed out about it the song has a lot of meaning for every joke song they do they have done so many more meaningful songs that actually affect people they are an awesome band.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 29th 2009 !⃝

    obviously this song is about when parents divorce, it ruins the lives of all their children. If u listen to mark, he represents the child or children speaking about his parents fighting.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 29th 2009 !⃝

    obviously this song is about when parents divorce, it ruins the lives of all their children. If u listen to mark, he represents the child or children speaking about his parents fighting.

  11. music_man92
    click a star to vote
    May 4th 2009 !⃝

    this song like many blink writes, is about parents on the verge of divorce and the kids are upset and are telling their parents to stop. i have sat and listened to this song when i think of how bad i want my dad in my life. this song is really just what you make it, itlike many songs so technically, you can interpert it how you want.

  12. jackjohn920
    click a star to vote
    Nov 9th 2008 !⃝

    This song is obviously about divorce. I'm not sure of Mark, or Travis's pasts, but I do know that about Tom's family prolems he talks about them in Rite of Spring (Angels and Airwaves). I',m sure Tom wrote it about his family problems.

  13. laxmonkey44
    click a star to vote
    Nov 3rd 2008 !⃝

    its definintly about mark hoppus and how his parents always fouoght. and how it hurt him so much, and how he thinks that divorce wasn't the right way to solve their problems. and years from now in 7 even 20 years tom will loook back to the blink-182 era. and the blink break up and say that it wasn't right. and that they should of never broke up and that you just need to talk it out. but hopefully it won't be that long and toma dn mark will come together again and reunite blink. and realize that blink-182 is the real deal. the best punk-rock band ever created. live on blink-182. live on strong!!

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 9th 2008 !⃝

    Divorce is the worst thing that a can happen to a family. just like suicide, most couples go for the easiest solution.

    "If a stupid poem could fix this home
    I'd read it every day."

    I really like that line, for the sake of their family, that kid is willing to do everything just to save his parent's marraige.

  15. tempest
    click a star to vote
    Jul 26th 2008 !⃝

    This is my all time favorite blink 182 song. I don't know my father, but I've seen my mom go through destructive relationships and I thought it was my fault. I know now it wasn't, but I still feel responsible because of how I felt. and the on;y guy that my mom was ever with that seemed like a father left and it was like total destruction of our lives. I couldn't stand the arguing and the fighting and I would sometimes cry because I felt so bad. This song explains the pain of a separation and how much it can change you, even though you are trying so desperately to change it. This song is amazing. :)

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 17th 2008 !⃝

    I love this song and blink 182 there very inspiring I love them they really don't care what everybody else thinks there different and I love that but yeah the song my parents are going through a divorce right at this very moment and my moms having an affair but I love listen to this song and knowing I'm not the only one that's going through a hard time or has went through a hard time and that my favorite band and toms parents got divorce and I really wish that blink would just do one more tour for us kids that need something good in our lives.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 19th 2008 !⃝

    The song is about Tom's parents becoming divorced, It is on Urethra Chronicles II. They just fell apart.

    And the idiots who cry about "Why didn't they say for US, I was devostated when they broke up". Your misinterpreting the song and taking it out of context. Let them have their own lives, they took separate paths for a reason. Hate to break it to you, but they're going to keep their life's neutral just to save yours. They had a lot of fun as a band. They've done all the fun things they ever could. The songs about divorce, don't take it out of context. Go listen to some +44 and Angels & Airwaves, their still the same people , but toms got some new haircut! :D

    FlamingDiced@Hotmail.Com
    come and talk.

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