Ode To My Family is the third song to appear here from The Cranberries after their previous entry Linger. It is about singer’s Dolorus O’Riordan’s yearning for her simple life as a child after having achieved success. Her heavy Irish accent and change in the form of words to express a special meaning and sincerity makes for a compelling listening experience. Ode To My Family song was released on the album No Need to Argue (image inset) which I listened to a great deal in my early twenties. The album contains other stand – out songs including:
I Can’t Be With You
Zombie
Twenty One
Dreaming My Dreams
No Need to Argue
Ode To My Family was a hit in Oceania and several European countries, topping the charts in Iceland, and reaching number four in France, number five in Australia, and number eight in New Zealand.
[Verse 1]
Understand the things I say
Don’t turn away from me
Cause I’ve spent half my life out there
You wouldn’t disagree
[Pre-Chorus]
Do you see me, do you see?
Do you like me
Do you like me standing there?
Do you notice, do you know
Do you see me, do you see me?
Does anyone care?
[Chorus]
Unhappiness where’s when I was young
And we didn’t give a damn
Cause we were raised
To see life as fun and take it if we can
My mother, my mother
She’d hold me
She’d hold me when I was out there
My father, my father
He liked me, well he liked me
Does anyone care?
The following are excerpts from the Wikipedia references below:
No Need to Argue is the second studio album by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, released on 3 October 1994. It is the band’s best-selling album and has sold 17 million copies worldwide as of 2014. The album’s mood is darker and harsher than that on their debut record – Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? In some of the songs, the band decided to take on a rockier and heavier side, using distortion and increasing the volume.
Reference:
1. Ode to My Family – Wikipedia
2. No Need to Argue – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Nice, nice!
Hi Sharon. Yes, I think it’s do, do, do, do – nice.
Hey Sharon, have you read Theodora’s latest about Cake? My golly it’s so good!!!!
Hi Matt, yes it’s delightful! It kind of makes me want to reach for a slice of cake!!! Hope all is well. Best wishes.
I’m going to feature it on Monday’s ‘News on the March’. I get what you mean about the poem causing a craving for cake! When I get money again, I must remember to buy a book of Theodora’s poems. I like how we have her poems to share.
Have a great weekend Sharon!
Yes, one of her books would be a nice treat! You have a good weekend also!
I think I’ll breach the subject with Connie in so far as giving her a hint for what I would like for XMAS Haha. Wish me luck lol
Hi Matt, I hope Connie takes the hint and gets it for you! It would make a great Xmas present! Have a great week!
I do too Sharon! But I have given hints out like that many times before and it hasn’t worked. I wish I owned a baseball bat 😛
Baseball bat!! Very funny!! Don’t worry Matt, if I ever win the lottery, I’ll send you the money!! Ha! Ha!
Happy Thursday to you Sharon!
I bet you don’t even play lottery. But the sentiment is what counts. Haha
Hi Matt, who told you I don’t play the lottery?!! I play the lottery, but the winning is the difficult part!! Kind regards!
Oops. Sorry Sharon. I just didn’t picture you as a lottery kind of gal. Haha I don’t even know what a lottery kind of gal is.
Cheers
Yeah Matt, I’m a lottery gal!! Like I said, it’s the winning that’s so hard!!! Are you well? x
What’s your biggest win Sharon? My Mum told me that her Aunt won 30000 dollars once which is nothing to sneeze at.
Thanks for asking how I am. I’m really well Sharon. And you?
Hi Matt, I could be better!! So happy to read you are well. Yes, yes, this year I won £1,500 (sterling, look it up). It came in so handy as I needed a new pair of glasses! Ha! Ha! Hope all is well. Sharon
It pains me to read ‘I could be better’ because it gives me the impression you are not well Sharon. I hope I am wrong. If not, I wish you are speedy recovery.
You won a lot of money Sharon Congratulations. Woohoo! All is hunky dory here thank you.
Hi Matt, thank you for your concern. Yes, I am unwell, I’m not exactly a teenager anymore!! How are your children? Happy to read all is good in Latin America. Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Great song. Love the smoky club in the video.
I’m chuffed you like it. You hadn’t heard this song before? I imagine you are familiar with the Cranberries.
I’ve heard of them but never really listened. That song caught my ear. I will be checking them out for sure.
That’s great Tom. I recommend ‘Linger’, ‘Dreaming my Dream’ and ‘Zombie’,
Gonna check them all out..
Great song Matt…I do like them.
Yeh, they did some pretty good stuff. I’m glad I researched this song and dug a bit deeper because there was a song of their’s which I adore, but I had forgotten about. It’s this one:
That is a good one…her voice was different…so sad what happened to her.
Her voice sounded a bit like Sinead O’Connor’s. It’s sad what happened to both of them. Thanks for checking the song out Max.