Black-Eyed Susans
Jack Hardy Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Black eyed susans by the road
In all those places time forgot
Run and run from what we know
Sometimes easy, sometimes not

Youth is but a flowered field
Daisies and forget-me-nots
All of this a letter sealed
Reminding us what we forgot

Old enough to touch a heart
Young enough to not reply
To stand upon the kitchen stool
And kiss your mother goodbye

Open to the morning sun
Reveal the beauty 'neath the cloud
Only nature having fun
All for crying out loud

The wind upon the clouds on high
The wind upon the brittle chaff
Birds on the electric wire
To see who will be last to laugh

All these colors on display
They all go so well with you




All so well in god's bouquet
All except for black and blue

Overall Meaning

The song "Black-Eyed Susans" by Jack Hardy has a folk-like tune and a soft melody that blend with the lyrics, giving the song a melancholic, poetic tone. The song talks about time, nature, memories, and the fleeting nature of life. The first two lines describe black-eyed susans growing by the road in places that time seems to have abandoned. This imagery creates a mood of nostalgia and longing – something that the singer of the song is trying to run away from. The lines "Run and run from what we know, Sometimes easy, sometimes not" indicate that the singer is trying to escape the knowledge of the transience of life.


The second verse of the song compares youth to a "flowered field" full of daisies and forget-me-nots. The line "All of this a letter sealed, Reminding us what we forgot" suggests that the memories of youth are like letters that have been sealed away, waiting to be rediscovered. The singer then reflects on their own age, indicating that they are old enough to touch a heart but young enough to not yet have experienced the full weight of the world. The lines "And kiss your mother goodbye, Open to the morning sun, Reveal the beauty 'neath the cloud, Only nature having fun, All for crying out loud" imply that, despite this weight, there is still beauty and joy to be found in life.


The third verse describes the wind on the clouds, birds on electric wires, and the many colors of nature all around. The singer describes how these colors go so well together, "All so well in god's bouquet, All except for black and blue." The last line is particularly poignant, as it implies that even in the midst of beauty, there is still pain and sorrow to be found.


Overall, the song Black-Eyed Susans is a powerful reflection on life, memory, and the natural world. It tells a story of a protagonist who is struggling to come to terms with the fleeting nature of life and the memories that they have collected along the way.


Line by Line Meaning

Black eyed susans by the road
There are black-eyed Susans growing by the road


In all those places time forgot
These flowers are growing in forgotten places


Run and run from what we know
We are constantly trying to escape our knowledge of things


Sometimes easy, sometimes not
This is sometimes an easy thing to do, but other times it is difficult


Youth is but a flowered field
Youth is like a field filled with flowers


Daisies and forget-me-nots
In this field, there are daisies and forget-me-nots


All of this a letter sealed
This field reminds us of something we have forgotten


Reminding us what we forgot
It serves to remind us of what we have forgotten


Old enough to touch a heart
We have reached an age where we can touch someone's heart


Young enough to not reply
But we are still young enough to not respond to certain things


To stand upon the kitchen stool
We stand on the stool in the kitchen


And kiss your mother goodbye
To say goodbye to our mother with a kiss


Open to the morning sun
The flowers are open to the morning sun


Reveal the beauty 'neath the cloud
Even through the clouds, the beauty of the flowers is visible


Only nature having fun
This beauty is a result of nature just having fun


All for crying out loud
And we can't help but be amazed and cry out in admiration


The wind upon the clouds on high
The wind is blowing high up in the clouds


The wind upon the brittle chaff
It is also blowing through the brittle chaff of the flowers


Birds on the electric wire
There are birds sitting on an electric wire


To see who will be last to laugh
They are waiting to see who will laugh last


All these colors on display
There are many colors on display


They all go so well with you
They all look beautiful with you


All so well in god's bouquet
All of these flowers look good together in God's bouquet


All except for black and blue
Except for the colors black and blue, which don't fit in




Contributed by Savannah Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Comments from YouTube:

John Wemm

Great song, among many, by this master songwriter.

More Versions