The Garden Rules
by Snow Patrol (featuring Lissie)

Album: Fallen Empires (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This ballad entwines Gary Lightbody's vocals with backing from US folk singer Lissie. "She sings from a place of inspiration," Lightbody told Q magazine, "all we said was Give it some Gimme Shelter! And boy, did she."
  • The song recalls Lightbody's childhood in Bangor, Northern Ireland. He explained its meaning to The Sun: "It's about my first love and the innocence of youth, playing in the garden. It's a song about my personal experience of that, but also a universal thing about the girl you fall in love with first. You're never able to really tell her, then she goes off and has her life and she'll never know how you feel about her."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the Song

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the SongSong Writing

How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.

Guy Clark

Guy ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?