What does Child in Time mean?

Deep Purple: Child in Time Meaning

Album cover for Child in Time album cover

Song Released: 1970


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Child in Time Lyrics

Sweet child in time, you'll see the line
Line that's drawn between the Good and the Bad
See the blind man, he's shooting at the world
Bullets flying, ooh taking toll
If you've been bad - Oh Lord I bet you have
And you've not been hit oh by...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 30th 2014 !⃝

    It's a song about war in general (not just Vietnam War), and it's special beacuse of its lyrics. Very simple, but also very deep if you think about the nature of humans and their desire to kill for a shameful reason- money. For me the best part of the lyrics is: "You'd better close your eyes and bow your head and wait for the ricochet." It tells you that sooner or later you will also be hit by flying lead just like the men you killed. The song has great music and in my opinion it's one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

  2. anonymous
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    Dec 31st 2022 !⃝

    Just contemplate your life as a play of russian roulette. This is how you'll see the line between good and bad. No kidding, betting on your (miserable ?) life.

  3. Hellal
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    Sep 30th 2021 !⃝

    It was around 1972 when I was 15 years old for the first time I listened to the Sweet Child in Time on radio. Television was still rare in Indonesia at that time. The only way we could listen to this song was on radio. I liked the song eventhough I did not understand the words in the song. It was no way that I could find the lyrics of the song and luckily there was a music magazine in Indonesia at that time, if I am not mistaken was MG magazine, but I could not afford to buy it. Sometimes the insert of the magazize was the poster of Deep Purple. I could only see this group band from the magazine that I borrowed from a friend that could afford to buy it. In 1972 there was no way to see video of a group band lived in other countris. Nowadays, anything happen anywhere in this world, it is very possible you to see it on video. Deep Purple is my best favourite group band although there was a lot of conflics among the personnel of the band since the beginning, while I really expected that Deep Purple could receive the award for a life achievment.

  4. anonymous
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    Sep 13th 2021 !⃝

    Its about the cold war and how so many people under the iron curtain were Trapped against their will.

  5. colkurtz
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    Jun 20th 2021 !⃝

    The blind man is God or nature and no one can be sure, when he is hit by an accident or sickness and dies a premature death.

  6. anonymous
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    Mar 10th 2021 !⃝

    Well, Ian Gillian said it's about Cold War, so there is no point arguing about that. Blind man shooting at the world really fits anyone starting a war. They don't know who will die, or how will it end.

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 18th 2019 !⃝

    The karma comes back 3 fold.lts a warning. Its a a great song.

  8. anonymous
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    Mar 31st 2019 !⃝

    The blind man shooting at the world - was and is the President of America. Very simple. And so the Song is about the war caused by USA all over the world.

  9. anonymous
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    Jan 24th 2019 !⃝

    I believe the song is about being born, "you'd better close your eyes, bow your head and wait for the ricochet" could be interpreted as a 'soul' waiting to enter a baby's body. The title makes more sense that way too, and the screaming could be explained as the baby crying when being born.

  10. anonymous
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    Nov 14th 2018 !⃝

    Child in time is you and me.travelling through the lines of good and bad.i think it strongly suggests the kamic reaction to bad decision.which sooner or later confronts all of us.

  11. anonymous
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    May 25th 2018 !⃝

    Why is it that everyone automatically assumes that that a song is about war unless the song writer actually said it's what it's about I don't think this is as directly tied to war as people think, to me it seems like something more personal, something the writer experienced

  12. anonymous
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    Apr 27th 2012 !⃝

    see the blind man shoting at the world - means messed up poeple are kill humans for no reasons what so ever


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