Wishing Well
The Oh Hellos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cut my hair and changed my name
Only had myself to blame
For the company i was keeping
Curse my restless wandering feet
Prone to wander endlessly
All the love you gave to me
Oh, i stole from my father all i thought i could sell
Tossed his copper, and i watched as it fell
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well
Bent my knee to many kings
Idols of prosperity
Heard that dollar calling me
So i sought it in the city
Oh, i stole from my father all i thought i could sell
Tossed his copper, and i watched as it fell
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well
For my soul, he made an offer
And to the dust again i fell
And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now
Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well
The Oh Hello's song Wishing Well is a melancholic tale of a reckless wanderer who discovers the consequences of his choices. The opening lines of 'I ran like a speeding train, cut my hair and changed my name' suggests that the singer has gone through some sort of transformation. However, this transformation does not appear as an act of positive self-realization but rather as an attempt to run away from his past mistakes. The repetition of the phrase 'All the love you gave to me, it wasn't enough to keep me' implies that the character has had loving relationships and support along the way but his restlessness and desire for personal gain has led him to make bad choices.
The second verse describes how the character got caught up in the temptation of wealth (Idols of prosperity, heard that dollar calling me, so I sought it in the city). He steals from his father and tosses his copper (a traditional form of currency) down a wishing well, in a desperate attempt to make money. However, despite all his efforts, there is no water in the wishing well to grant his wishes. This is a metaphor for the fact that despite his efforts to get rich quick, he is only left with an empty well of unfulfilled desires.
In the bridge, the singer reveals that he has sold out his soul to the devil, symbolic of the fact that his search for wealth and prosperity has led him away from his values and morals. The final repetition of 'Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well' indicates that the character has finally realized that all of his efforts were in vain and the only things he has left are the consequences of his choices.
Line by Line Meaning
I ran like a speeding train
I hastily got away, expediting like a fast train.
Cut my hair and changed my name
I made requisite external changes to commit identity fraud.
Only had myself to blame
I take responsibility for my actions and their consequences.
For the company I was keeping
I was in the wrong social circle and it negatively impacted me.
Curse my restless wandering feet
I regret my natural inclination to aimlessly move.
Prone to wander endlessly
I have a tendency to drift aimlessly and continuously.
All the love you gave to me
Despite your love, I betrayed you.
It wasn't enough to keep me
The love that you gave wasn't enough to prevent my misdeeds.
Oh, I stole from my father all I thought I could sell
I pilfered all possible things from my dad to sell for monetary gain.
Tossed his copper, and I watched as it fell
I threw all his copper and took pleasure in observing it fall.
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well
I looted his assets without the foresight that they might not translate into monetary gain.
Bent my knee to many kings
I prostrated myself to several powerful people/organizations.
Idols of prosperity
I revered material wealth as a deity.
Heard that dollar calling me
I gave in to the temptation and allure of money.
So I sought it in the city
I looked for ways to acquire wealth within an urban setting.
For my soul, he made an offer
The devil lured me into an offer in exchange for my soul.
And to the dust again I fell
I was reduced to futile dust after the transaction.
And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now
I am inexorably under the control of the devil.
Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well
My greedy actions led to my downfall and regrets, as the wishing well did not yield any water.
Contributed by Henry D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jenniferhorvath2962
I ran like a speeding train
Cut my hair and changed my name
Only had myself to blame
For the company I was keeping
Curse my restless wandering feet
Prone to wander endlessly
All the love you gave to me
It wasn't enough to keep me
Oh, I stole from my father all I thought I could sell
Tossed his copper, and I watched as it fell
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well
Bent my knee to many kings
Idols of prosperity
Heard that dollar calling me
So I sought it in the city
Oh, I stole from my father all I thought I could sell
Tossed his copper, and I watched as it fell
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well
For my soul, he made an offer
And to the dust again I fell
And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now
Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well
@TheMezzomorto
I ran like a speeding train
Cut my hair and changed my name
Only had myself to blame
For the company I was keeping
Curse my restless wandering feet
Prone to wander endlessly
All the love you gave to me
It wasn't enough to keep me
[Chorus]
Cause, oh, I stole from my father all I thought I could sell
Tossed his copper, and I watched as it fell
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well
Bent my knee to many kings
Idols of prosperity
Heard that dollar calling me
So I sought it in the city
[Chorus]
For my soul, he made an offer
And to the dust again I fell
And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now
Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well
(Oh, ooh, ooh, ohh) x4
@chrisjanwust
Great explanation, fully agree. But what about the final verse?
For my soul, he made an offer
I would think it would be God who would make a offer for his soul (as Christ payed for our sins and thus lives), but then:
and to the dust again I fell
and oh, that devil's got a hold on me now
because there wasn't any water in the wishing well
The devil has got a hold of him again. Did he return to sin or has he not yet returned to his Father?
@AM50red
In my opinion the meaning of "water" in the wishing well takes on two definitions. Changes in the last verse.
Meaning 1) Finding worth of wordly things
Meaning 2) Life giving water that keeps you safe from the devil's hold
In the chorus the lyric goes
"Oh, I stole from my father all I thought I could sell
Tossed his copper, and I watched as it fell
But there wasn't any water in the wishing well"
Here, the writer has stolen and tossed something of value (God's love) into the well expecting to get something back of wordly things. But the wishing well was dry so there is no return from the well. Here the water resembles wordly things.
The final verse changes the meaning of the well. Water in the bible means God giving life.
For my soul, he made an offer (Christ was offered in exchange for our forgiveness)
And to the dust again I fell (Dust=earth ground, so, writer fell to earthly things again)
And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now (this lyrics is literal)
Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well (Writer has not been filling her well with life giving water from God. Because the writer has not been near God, her faith has not been nurtured, and there is a lack of water in the well to save her from the devil's hold.)
If the verse was re-written literally:
Christ gave his life for mine.
I exchanged his offer for earthly things.
The devil has a hold of me now
because I have not been nurturing my relationship with God which would have kept me from the devil.
This is how I interpret it!
@thepip3599
This song has given me an idea for a d&d character. They would be a warlock who was saved from drowning by a sea goddess, and in exchange for their life, they have to keep collecting money and throwing it into the ocean for her.
@thepip3599
I’ve decided to explain my idea more in-depth.
Specifically, the goddess would be Rán (I think it’s pronounced like “round” without the d) the Norse goddess of sea storms and nets. According to the mythology, she has a giant net where she collects stuff. Mostly treasure from the ships she sinks with her storms, and the souls of everyone who ever dies of drowning. I read somewhere that sailors would make sure to bring money with them to give to her if they drowned so they could get on her good side. I decided it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine that she might let someone go if they promised to bring her enough treasure, since she hoards it so much.
She would still own their soul. She’d just be allowing them to return to the world of the living as long as they kept paying her. While they would appear free, they would metaphorically still be in her net. I picture her being really evil and greedy, and so powerful she barely even cares about the character at all. She’s just letting them live because she has their soul either way. If they stopped bringing her money she would take them back and it wouldn’t inconvenience her very much.
I still haven’t played this character yet, especially since Covid19 got in the way of D&D, but I’ll probably use the idea eventually. I give full permission to use it for anyone else reading this though.
@LiLi-xi2dl
That's actually pretty cool whoa
@cheesetime
I wish I had ideas like this, this character sounds really awesome. I feel like it would also be really good for the DM to base a campaign around...?
@thepip3599
@@cheesetime The trick to having good character ideas is to have many, many bad character ideas, and eventually strike gold.
@cheesetime
@@thepip3599 I can definitely do the first part haha
@ninjapoetwolf1282
When you couple this song with the previous ("Second Child, Restless Child"), you can clearly get the story of the prodigal son (the second child) who took his father's money and spent it all on pleasure, but realizes that in the end he gained nothing. Amazing well written songs!
@isaiah9501
Wait was that one of Jesus's parable
@ninjapoetwolf1282
yep
@Jason_Wilhelm
And the song after this one as well the three are each one part of the story