The band's 2003 album Up All Night reached the top five of the Australian Albums Chart, it achieved double platinum status and won four ARIA Awards in October. Two further top five albums were issued, Sun Dirt Water in 2007 and Temptation in 2011. The Waifs have three top fifty singles, "London Still" (2002), "Bridal Train" (2004) and "Sun Dirt Water". The band supported Bob Dylan on his 2003 Australian tour and then his 2003 North American tour, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival.
The Waifs founded the independent label Jarrah Records in July 2002, co-owned with fellow musician John Butler, and their common manager Phil Stevens, which handles their Australian releases.
Taken
The Waifs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Love for the money that's my cash flow
No, I don't get scared when I walk alone
I have been on this beat enough to know
That when shit happens it is just your turn
So you deal with it and it happens everyday
I don't know quite where I belong
Walkabout - a very different kind
Walkabout - a very different place and time
I stand underneath street lights
Dreaming of the moon
It is rising in a desert
A life I never know
Taken away and now
I'm walking by myself
When you grow up in institutions
You make your friends but love you never know
So when I found my blood ran from the desert
I knew it was somewhere I had to go
I went to the people there
I lost and found myself on either side
Something deep down just don't feel right
So I walk about this country
And I walk about these streets
To find where my heart lies.
The Waifs’ song “Taken” delves into the complexity of identity and belonging. The singer is a street performer who loves performing for the money, and who has been on the streets long enough to learn to deal with whatever life throws at them. They don't know where they belong, so when people come around asking for parts of themselves, they give themselves away freely. The chorus “Walkabout” refers to a very different kind of walk and a different place – something that’s unconventional, perhaps even spiritual, and it’s not confined to a particular time or space.
The second verse has an even more poignant message to convey as the singer talks about growing up in institutions where they only made friends but didn't know anything about real love. The desert symbolizes the bloodline that they didn't know existed, and that they must go there to explore their identity. In the desert, the singer found themselves, lost themselves, and ultimately found that they don't belong there. There's something deep inside them that feels off, which causes them to walk about the country in search of where their heart lies.
“Taken” encompasses the search for identity and belonging, which is true for many immigrants, and people who feel displaced in their own homes. It’s also about the importance of letting go of the self and discovering oneself in different contexts, and it deals with heavy themes including alienation, rejection, displacement, and searching for self-worth.
Line by Line Meaning
Night time I stage my street show
I perform in the streets at night to make money
Love for the money that's my cash flow
I do it for the money, not because I love it
No, I don't get scared when I walk alone
I am so used to walking alone, it doesn't scare me anymore
I have been on this beat enough to know
I am experienced enough to know what to expect
That when shit happens it is just your turn
Bad things happen to everyone, it's your turn now
So you deal with it and it happens everyday
I just deal with it, it's a part of my everyday life
I don't know quite where I belong
I am unsure of my place in the world
So when they come I freely give myself away
When someone comes into my life, I give myself to them
Walkabout - a very different kind
I am taking a journey, a Walkabout, of a different kind
Walkabout - a very different place and time
This journey will take me to a different place and time
I stand underneath street lights
I stand under the street lights, lost in thought
Dreaming of the moon
I dream of things that may never be possible
It is rising in a desert
The moon rises in the desert, somewhere I may never know
A life I never know
A life that is foreign to me
Taken away and now
Something has been taken from me
I'm walking by myself
I am alone, walking by myself
When you grow up in institutions
Growing up in institutions can be lonely
You make your friends but love you never know
I had friends in institutions but never knew love
So when I found my blood ran from the desert
When I discovered my roots were in the desert
I knew it was somewhere I had to go
I knew I had to go there to find myself
I went to the people there
I went to the people in the desert
I lost and found myself on either side
I found myself both lost and found while there
Something deep down just don't feel right
Something doesn't feel right inside me
So I walk about this country
So I am walking around this country, searching for answers
And I walk about these streets
I continue to walk the streets, searching for where I belong
To find where my heart lies.
I am searching for where my heart truly belongs
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Phill Hart
Love it. LOVE it. Such a good message. We all get into that rut at some point where the day is just another day. But take it all in. It won't come around again. Pretty good advice - I think
goldfinger -999
20 odd years ago I met that girl splashing around on Cable Beach, this song is a time capsule for me….beautiful Broome
padraig sisk
Remember this band 1996 at the Clifton hill, Queens pde, Melbourne.