Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: folk
Song Meaning of “Bling Blang” by Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell’s song ‘Bling Blang’ is a folk-rock lullaby that speaks to the bittersweet innocence of childhood and the difficulty of growing. It tells the story of a person struggling to reconcile the glory of their younger years with adulthood’s stark realities.
The song begins with the line ‘Oh, when I was young, I’d go to Sunday school, believing God was real and I would be a fool’. This suggests that in the speaker’s younger years, they were overflowing with an idealistic faith that no matter what challenge life or God presented them, they would never be misled. As the song progresses, the narrator’s innocence slowly fades and she begins to become discouraged and face the hardships of the adult world.
The chorus, “Bling Blang, what’s the use of tryin’” expresses the speaker’s struggles in trying to flourish in a world where expectations outweigh reality. In a way, this line sounds like a call for help. The speaker realizes that the simple days of youth can no longer be relied upon and that grown-up issues now require more complex solutions.
The last stanza “In this life one must go hard, or go home” implies that the speaker is beginning to understand that the road ahead is difficult and requires strong perseverance. The speaker’s journey from youthful faith to a more arduous understanding is encapsulated in the closing lines “moving on, but regretting I can never go home”. The speaker now sees how difficult reality can be and also regrets leaving their idealistic youth behind.
Overall, Elizabeth Mitchell’s song ‘Bling Blang’ is an evocative exploration of growing pains and the bittersweet emotion of leaving the memories of childhood behind.