Meaning of “If You Can Hear Me” by James Blake

According to James Blake, he wrote “If You Can Hear Me” for a particular scene in a movie in which a character is communicating with his father, who happens to be in outer space. So that would explain the title of the track and also why the addressee is referred to as “dad”. 

And what the lyrics are meant to speak to is for the most part ‘growing away from the vine’, i.e. how our respective life’s paths often develop differently than that of our parents. But that said, the lyrics conclude with the vocalist presenting himself as having “followed” his dad’s “dream”. 

And those observations are meant to allude to how even as we may follow different paths than our parents, there are still some exemplary things they have done which are worth learning from.

“Dad, if you can hear me
I chased it all too far (Hmm-mm)
I couldn’t seem to find my way
Back to the car
I followed your lead (Hmm-mm)
Trusted anyone with my heart (Hmm-mm)
Dad, if you can hear me”

James Blake wrote and produced this song with Dom Maker.

“If You Can Hear Me” is the penultimate track from James Blake’s studio album “Playing Robots Into Heaven”, which is his sixth.

This song was made public via the efforts of Polydor Records and Republic Records.