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.
We took a walk that night, but it wasn't the same
We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain
She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go
She couldn't scream while I held her close
I swore I'd never let her go
Tell me what you wanna know
Oh, come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
There ain't no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
So come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
Oh, oh, oh
I know my rights, I've been here all day and it's time
For me to go, so let me know if it's alright
I just can't take this, I swear I told you the truth
She couldn't scream while I held her close
I swore I'd never let her go
Tell me what you wanna know
Oh, come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
And then you whisper in my ear
"I know what you're doing here"
So come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
There ain't no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
Oh, come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
Oh, oh, oh
We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain
She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go
She couldn't scream while I held her close
I swore I'd never let her go
Tell me what you wanna know
Oh, come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
There ain't no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
So come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
Oh, oh, oh
I know my rights, I've been here all day and it's time
For me to go, so let me know if it's alright
I just can't take this, I swear I told you the truth
She couldn't scream while I held her close
I swore I'd never let her go
Tell me what you wanna know
Oh, come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
And then you whisper in my ear
"I know what you're doing here"
So come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
There ain't no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
Oh, come on, oh, come on, oh, come on
Oh, oh, oh
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
He was friends with Jenny, fell in love with her, and when she wants to break up with him, he goes insane and kills her.
I've a lot of respect for the Killers. When I'm feeling down, I listen to their music an feel uplifted. There;s something comforting in BF's voice.
When I listen to it, I hear the Cure. Brandon and RS have similar voices. They should do a duet, it'd be awesome/
I had to make an account just to tell you that your comment blew my mind.
Deamonicus....the murder trilogy is actually jenny, midnight show, and leave the bourbon on the shelf, which is on the new album. "boubon" is the first installment, when he kills the girl after a messy break up, and ive heard the murder involves water...."midnight show" is him disposing of the body, and "jenny" is him trying to justify the murder when he's caught by the cops. They are making a 25 min movie, and apparently the killers want mischa barton to play Jenny, and james spader the kill. Cant wait! my interpretaion is that Mr brightside isnt about a prostitute, but just a woman who makes the guy feel insanely insecure because he loves her so much.
In my opinion, he killed her reflexively (maybe somewhat accidentally) or whatever, and on the one hand regrets it horribly, and is devastated; but some combination of selfishness and denial stands between him and confession.
I love how they're name is the Killers and some of their songs are about murder and killing. Quite interesting.
OH...MY...GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!!!!!! I've had "Bourbon" for a while now, and always loved it, but had had NO IDEA about the amazing trilogy. Ok, so here's my interpertation:
"LTBOTS": Jenny (the narrator's girlfriend) has just moved out, and they're either separated or broken up. The guy is obsessed and depressed, sitting around drinking, watching tv, and (potentionally) stalking her. And he is broken up, drunk, and wailing throughout the song, talking to her, either in real life or in his mind, asking her if he still has a chance, telling her that he wants to be with her, that he NEEDS to be with her. And in the end, as his voice becomes slurred, I think he's either falling asleep or getting preoccupied with another idea (killing her?)
OR
I had another idea while writing this, and I think I like this version better: The narrator was drinking, mourning his break-up with Jenny. He confronted her, telling her, in drunken, slurred wails, that he loves her (obssessively). And "hold you tight" is more aphixiating than sweet, and "before you say goodbye" is before you die. And near the end, as the song climaxes, is the actual killing. And at the very end, as his voice begins echoing the most and slows and softening is him whispering to her as he lays her down or as she loses conscienceness as she dies.
"MS" Still blinded by his love and horriffied with what he's done, the killer stuck her in the backseat of his car. She was weak, but still alive, crying out, but no one heard her, no one could save her. He drives faster and faster, still half drunk and completely psychotic, saying "we were such a good thing" "make it go away" too much is happening, its just too much, i can't cope, it's too much stress on you, let me ease your pain, baby, "let me take a little more off your mind." So he takes her to the beach and kills her (probabily choking her) watching her die (taking her breath away and watching her disappear) And as he dumps her body into the sea, he cries out why did she have to be such a slut? why did she drive him to this? (a real short skirt/gloss&curls/guilty girl) whether or not she actually was a slut is irrelevent. And this is their secret, this is because he loves her, because because becausebecausebecause BECAUSE! and they were so good together. nononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononono
"JWAFOM": this one's pretty self-explainatory. He's being interrogeted by the police, and he's been there all day. He's trying to leave, telling them that he knows his rights, that they don't have anything on him, and that there's no motive for him to kill her. After all, haha, Jenny WAS a friend of his. But at the same time, he can't help but replay the seen in his mind, relishing how she didn't make a sound as he "held her close." And he is starts off sounding sad and regrettful, like a friend would after finding out that their friend died, saying, sadly, oh, poor Jenny, she was my friend, how could this happen? But as the song progresses, the narrator slowly loses it, and his voice begins to lose his cool and the music becomes a little more frantic. I think the murderer might be suggesting that she committed suicide, saying that something just "wasn't the same." "She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go" might have sounded like a suicide "note" to the police, but to the narrator, it was just another justification. I love how the song starts with stylized fuzzy radio talk, helicopter choppers, and sirens.
(sorry for any misspellings. And if I sounded a bit crazy, I was just getting in the right mindset)
this actually makes more sense than most theories. i never saw midnight show that way...but it does in fact make a lot of sense. i always saw it as him picking up a hooker and thinking of jenny. but that makes much more sense.
@randomRANCOR YO OKAY SO I REALLY LIKE THIS THEORY, but I have an idea! What if Everything Will Be Alright (the last track on Hot Fuss) is his arrest and he's trying to convince himself to stay positive?
I think the song actually talks about a discussion between the guy and its girlfriend. The girl is asking about a possible affair with another woman and he says she was just a friend. that's at least how i get it
This is a great opener to the album…I love the guitar on it! I think its basically a song about a guy who kills a girl, Jenny…and he's now being interrogated for it....maybe she was going to break up with him, or they had been fighting… “she said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go”….theres definetly a jealousy tone here….which teams with the jealousy in mr brightside and also midnight show. Maybe they embraced to say goodbye and he stabbed her, but her screams were not heard as her face was in his chest…..great imagery in this song, one of my faves on the album.
This song is Brandon's favourite on the album.Its also one of my 3 favourite.I am so excited for the 25 min. mini movie..but someone once posted on either this song or midnight show that the movie was to be given out as a pirze to only a certain amount of people.Is that true???
Wow! I never knew the Killers songs were so...sinister! Lol...hence the name I guess. I can't wait until the movie comes out! But, did anyone ever think, that maybe since they were walking on a "promenade" near the water, he "couldn't scream while he held her close and swore he'd never let her go" meant maybe he was having a joke with her and holding her close to the edge and pushed her in, and she drowned?
@meridell5 wait what movie???