“Hayloft” by Mother Mother

There are three characters present in Mother Mother’s “Hayloft”. One is a “young couple” who are doing their thing in the titular “hayloft”. A hayloft is actually part of a stable or barn that is used to store hay. The implication is that some of the haystacks therein are soft enough to rest or sleep upon. However, said youngsters, being mates and all, are not resting. Instead they are fully engaged in the types of activities that you would expect of a pair of aroused teenagers, if you will, in a relationship together when they find themselves in a secluded environment.

But alas, the hayloft is not as secluded as they presumed. For a figure whom the vocalist identifies as ‘his daddy’ is also lurking about. This figure can be interpreted in one of two ways. First is that he is the father of one of the teenagers bonking in the hayloft. If such is true, the further implication would be that he is the father of the female. This is because the dad is presented as creeping with “a gun”, as in being angry concerning what the young lovers are doing. 

Indeed the end of the second verse gives the impression that father is very much aware of what the kids are doing in the hayloft, as he is depicted as approaching the structure with the intention of “blowing their… bedheads straight off”. 

So again, using a bit of imagination it reads like the girl involved may be his daughter, since father’s aren’t particularly known to get upset when their sons are sexually active. And since she and her boyfriend are doing it in such an unconventional setting, that means they are likely having sex on the low, i.e. behind the father’s back. By the looks of things, dad is totally not having it.

Different Explanation

Another explanation is that has been put forth is that, in their search for seclusion, the young couple are rather getting hot and heavy in someone else’s hayloft, i.e. on the property of a dad whom neither one of them are actually related to. As such, he concludes they are thieves or vandals or what have you. Owing to this, he’s creeping towards them with the gat.

But again, based on the second verse it doesn’t really read so. Instead it sounds like maybe the daughter snuck out in the middle of the night to be with her lover. And her father, rockin’ longjohns and a burner, is about to teach them a lesson. So if such is the case, that his daughter is doing it behind his back on his own property, then you can understand why said father figure would be solidly pissed off.

But again, this narrative is not overtly specific concerning the relationship between the man and the youngsters. However, what is made convincingly clear is that he does not approve of what they are doing in the hayloft.

Mother Mother

Mother Mother is a rock band from Vancouver which, since its mid-aughts’ inception, has been fronted by vocalist/guitarist Ryan Guldemond alongside his younger sister by three years, keyboardist and backup vocalist Molly Guldemond.  

“Hayloft”

Hayloft was written by Ryan, with its producer being Howard Redekopp.

This is a track that Last Gang Records released on 16 September 2008. It came as part of Mother Mother’s album “O My Heart”. 

“Hayloft” proceeded to score the band their highest ranking on the UK Indie Chart to date, where it peaked at number eight. But more importantly in the grand scheme of things, this song spearheaded Mother Mother’s out-of-nowhere TikTok virality in 2020 and thus for the first time garnered the act mainstream notoriety. 

It was shortly after the song went viral in 2020 that Guldemond and co. proceeded to drop the song’s sequel, “Hayloft II”.