What does Don't Take the Girl mean?

Tim McGraw: Don't Take the Girl Meaning

Album cover for Don't Take the Girl album cover

Song Released: 1994


Don't Take the Girl Lyrics


Johnny's daddy was taking him fishin'
When he was eight years old.
Little girl came through the front gate
holdin' a fishin' pole.
His dad looked down and smiled,
said, "We can't leave her behind"
"Son, I know you don't want her to...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 31st 2011 !⃝

    I love this song so much but I am confused by the ending, because I always took it as the girl dies during labor however at the end of the song on the video it shows her with them

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 31st 2011 !⃝

    I believe this song is about someone not wanting to get to know some else but then as time goes by they start to fall for each other. After some more time goes by one of them is dying and the other not wanting to lose other.

    This is how I interpret the lyrics:

    At first the guy (Johnny)- when he was little - didn't want his dad to take the little girl from next door with them during the father/son time. He didn't care if his father took any other boy or person with them, just not the girl.

    "Take Jimmy Johnson, take Tommy Thompson.
    Take my best friend, Bo. Take anybody that you want as long as she don't go. Take any boy in the world, daddy please, don't take the girl."

    But as goes by, they start dating each other. Then one night while on a date, someone tries to rob them while grabbing the girl and putting a gun to her head. Johnny didn't if he took his wallet, the keys to car, the watch his grandfather gave him. Things of value. Even something that was valuable to him. As long as the girl was safe. because that's all that mattered to him. Her safety.

    "Stranger came and pulled a gun. Grabbed her by the arm said "If you do what I tell you to do, there won't be any harm"
    And Johnny said "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards. Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me. Here's the key to my car. Mister give it a whirl,
    But please don't take the girl."

    More time passes and they are starting a family of their own. But something goes wrong. The baby boy was safe but his mother was fading fast - dying. Johnny didn't care about his life as long as she was safe again. So he prayed to God to - if need be - take him instead of her.

    "Doctor says the baby's fine, but you'll have to leave. 'Cause his momma's fading fast and Johnny hit his knees and there he prayed."Take the very breath you gave me.
    Take the heart from my chest.
    I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me, make this my last request.
    Take me out of this world. God, please don't take the girl"

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 4th 2012 !⃝

    That is the literal thinking behind the song. I mean that is just common sense to begin with. The song literally says everything you just said. There are deeper meanings behind a lot of songs and in this case we need to look at the contexual way. What is in the context...

    1: A Boy does not like a girl and doesnt want to be with her. He asks for things he wants like his friends to make sure she does not go.

    2: As he grows up or matures he is not offering friends to take her place, instead he is offering material things because he does not care about what he "HAS" being the watch,wallet,and the car.

    3: He grows up more and in order to save his love he cannot sacrifice material things or friends. He must sacrifice himself to God to save her.

    By these three points I have come to 2 conclutions and I have yet to really come up with the detailed interpreation but here are my 2 ideas.

    1: When we grow up, we mature not only in body but in personality and in morals. We go from chldren who care about themselves (preferring friends over others). When we grow up in adolescence we believe that we can bribe or offer material objects to get what we want (keys,wallet and watch for his girls safety). And finally as we mature to the point when we have families. We have to strength to not ask things for ourselves or bribe, but the strength to sacrifice ourselves for the ones we care about.

    That is the first and most likely meaning but I have another that is not as caring but instead kind of conscientious reason.

    2: As children everyone has more power then you but in the song it specifically states that Johny's father has the power. As you grow up you have more responcbility because other people do have less power to control you. To control you they have to have a good reason to do so. In johny's case the man would have been able to control him because he had a gun to the girl's head. But when you are all grown up you almost control yourself and every decision you make. Johny had even more responciblity for his family because there was nobody around with the power to tell him what to do. This was his family so he had the only power to know what to do.

    Those are my 2 theme ideas. Obviously number one is more relevent and makes more sense but number 2 is still an option. A theme about sacrifice/morals or the theme about power/responcibility.

    Thanks

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 30th 2023 !⃝

    To me i am hoping Bo the best friend is not a beloved pet.
    Does anyone else think Bo could be a pet that he would sacrifice for his love?

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 12th 2022 !⃝

    I think that this song was my boyfriend's wedding song and he's been lying to me about it. It's not even that big of a deal to lie. I mean it was his past. What the f***??

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 16th 2021 !⃝

    If you watch the music video to the song, it shows that the "girl" survives and goes with her son and husband (both now named Johnny) fishing.

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 5th 2020 !⃝

    I think Johnny takes her place and dies. H goes to heaven and relives the first time he said don take the girl, he's back to an 8 year old fishing with his dad. That is heaven to me.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 6th 2020 !⃝

    I think the song is about a boy who falls in love with a girl as a child and doesn't want nothing to happen to her and as they got older he was protecting her that's why he was giving away his personal belongings and when years went down the road she was giving birth to their baby and the Dr said the baby's fine but she dies while giving birth to their baby and he prays to God cause he don't want her to die but he rather have god take him instead and at the end of the video it starts over again.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 1st 2020 !⃝

    I think he might be talking about him and his wife, but renamed himself as Johnny for the song. It’s a powerful story and it seems a little too real to be fake. Maybe the “girl” doesn’t die because they do like a life saving surgery or something and I think Johnny would be ok with that since he had even offered his wallet to a robber before. God is a very important part in this and every single story on this planet so I think it was a good thing to make Him a key element.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 3rd 2019 !⃝

    This song's tells a story about an eight year old boy named Johnny, and one day when his father was taking him fishing he saw a girl, (whose name is not reaveled), Come through the front gate holding a fishing pole but he doesn't want her to come along, (no reason to exactly why), and he tells him take any boy in the world but the girl. next, 10 years later where Johnny and the girl are now adults, Johnny and the girl start falling in love, (again no reason why), and they see a stranger pulling out a gun and grabbing the girl's arm and if they do what they tell him to do, there won't be any harm but then Johnny starts saying he can have everything he has, (which he agrees by seen in the video), but taking the girl. Finally, five years later, Johnny and the girl are now married and about to have a baby but as soon as they get to the hospital, when the baby is offically born, the doctor tells Johnny that the baby, which reveals it's a boy, is fine but the girl is fading fast, which means she's getting close to her death and Johnny then prays to his knees that the girl survives and he's taken instead, also at the end of the song, the opening line is repeated.

  11. anonymous
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    Oct 27th 2019 !⃝

    I Believe that it is the story of a boy who falls in love with a girl over his young and teen years. when they were teenagers a man come and robs them and threatens to hurt or kill the girl he has fallen in love with. When they are in there twenties they are going to have a kid and she is having complications and she died giving birth. the baby made it and now he puts all his attention into his son.

  12. anonymous
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    Jun 8th 2019 !⃝

    Fishing meaning girl hunting. Since he was 8 years old. Father would hunt for women with his 8 yr old son watching by his side.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 12th 2019 !⃝

    Whether you're here to satisfy your morbid side or to help come to terms with a death of a loved one, collected below are our songs about death and dying. You're here because you love someone or somebody loves you, and these songs know how you feel. Most songs about growing up don't have a very favorable view of growing up, because all songs are written by artists. No matter what the inspiration for the song, anybody who has known what it is to lose a loved one forever can identify.

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 3rd 2019 !⃝

    I think that this song is about the purest kind of love. When you dont care about anything or anyone then the person you love. In this song this boy lives his life falling in love with a girl and is willing to give anything, even his life as long as shes happy and safe

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 20th 2018 !⃝

    Don't Take The Girl by Tim McGraw, is a very serious and deep lyrics and the latest comment sort of indicate that the boy loves a girl a lot because he does not want to lose her. Whole story is available at wikipedia website.

    - Same person who made comments on songs recently

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 19th 2018 !⃝

    A boy loves a girl a lot. Would do anything for her and would rather have someone else in the world to go instead of her. When they gave the baby, he rather lose anyone except his girl and his baby. The song where the girl is put above others

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 19th 2018 !⃝

    It's about he doesn't really like her very much and when they grew up a robber threatened to kill the girl and the boy will give up anything for her and then there's going to be a baby and then the robber threatens again and this time he stabs her

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 19th 2018 !⃝

    It's about he doesn't want to leave her side when they grew up a robber threatened to kill the girl and the boy will give up anything for her and then there's going to be a baby and then the robber threatens again and this time he stabs her

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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