The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Come out, Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done
Well, only the good die young
That's what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw, but that never hurt no one
So come on, Virginia, show me a sign
Send up a signal, I'll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
Never let's in the sun
Darlin', only the good die young
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young
You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
Mmm, and a cross of gold
But, Virginia, they didn't give you quite enough information
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
Oh-whoa-whoa
And they say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun
You know that only the good die young, oh, baby
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young
Said your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aw, she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
Oh-whoa-whoa
Come out, come out, come out, Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
You know that only the good die young
Tell you, baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the good
Only the good die young
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
You Catholic girls start much too late
Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done
Well, only the good die young
That's what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw, but that never hurt no one
So come on, Virginia, show me a sign
Send up a signal, I'll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
Never let's in the sun
Darlin', only the good die young
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young
You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
Mmm, and a cross of gold
But, Virginia, they didn't give you quite enough information
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
Oh-whoa-whoa
And they say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun
You know that only the good die young, oh, baby
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young
Said your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aw, she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
Oh-whoa-whoa
Come out, come out, come out, Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
You know that only the good die young
Tell you, baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the good
Only the good die young
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by fewqacac, Irish Cowboy
Only the Good Die Young Lyrics as written by Billy Joel
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol CMG Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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From The Republican interview
Q. "Only The Good Die Young" was controversial for the time. Did you know that was going to happen when you wrote it?
A. We thought we might get some flack for it. I took it to the guys in the band, a couple of them are Catholic and I said "Do you have a problem with this?" and they said "No it's true." There'd been all these novels written and movies made about Jewish guilt and there was nothing about Catholic guilt which to me was the ying to the yang of Jewish guilt. Jewish guilt was all visceral and physical gut guilt. Catholic guilt is all incense and bats in the belfry and mental torment. The point of it wasn't anti-Catholic as much as it was pro-lust. In the end the girl kept her virginity...she remained chaste. When there was all this brouhaha, I was like "What's the problem?" But it did get banned. It got banned at Seton Hall University which was a Catholic college and I think the Archdiocese of St. Louis said "Don't buy this record." As soon as you tell kids they can't have something they want it. I wrote them a letter afterwards saying "Please ban my next record."
Ummm I don't know why her name is Virginia, but I can see the Virginia=Virgin thing and makes sense for the purposes of the song. Anyways I always just thought the song was about him basically giving his argument to a Catholic girl to get her to have sex with him. He's trying to convince her to not be "good" by telling her that the good die young.
It's definitely about wanting to shag some virgin. He makes a few good jabs at the Catholic church in the process, too, but in a way which still comes off as comical and light. My preacher grandfather used to say "only the good die young" when someone young died, as a way to comfort or explain what seemed unacceptable. He used to also say that bad people would live longer because God wasn't done with them yet and they weren't ready for Heaven. lol Do with that what you will...
This was my sister's mantra for a season or so... made her happy and feel cute and all that jazz, that it was okay just to relax and have a good time. No sex involved. ;) And we're not Catholic. LoL.
Yeah it is more about sex, in my opinion. It's about anyone who follows blindly a teaching (I think specificially Joel uses religious doctrine) without looking beyond it ("the stained glass curtain you're hiding behind / never lets in the sun").
It does have sexual overtones of course, but that is the beauty of the song- its many layers and ambiguous meanings :)
haha this is my mantra too...i was a catholic school girl for years. and i still haven't cut loose. this has kind of been dubbed my song by a few ppl.
Great double meaning:
"You didn't count on me" count on = consider or rely on
"When you were counting on your rosary" counting = saying a prayer at each rosary bead
It's clever wording, but it's not a double meaning.
The name Virginia is an obvious choice.
Lol yeah I think you're right maharishi. I love this song...it's so full of life unlike religion...I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
For a while,"Only the Good Die Young" and "We Didn't Start the Fire" were banned from the radio. It was like,in the early 90's,I think. I forget exactly. I read that somewhere.