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.
If I told you things I did before
Told you how I used to be
Would you go along with someone like me?
If you knew my story word for word
Had all of my history
Would you go along with someone like me?
I did before and had my share
It didn't lead nowhere
I would go along with someone like you
It doesn't matter what you did
Who you were hanging with
We could stick around and see this night through
And we don't care about the young folks
Talkin' 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about their own faults
Talkin' 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
Usually when things has gone this far
People tend to disappear
No one will surprise me unless you do
I can tell there's something goin' on
Hours seems to disappear
Everyone is leaving I'm still with you
It doesn't matter what we do
Where we are going to
We can stick around and see this night through
And we don't care about the young folks
Talkin' 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about their own faults
Talkin' 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
And we don't care about the young folks
Talkin' 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about their own faults
Talkin' 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Told you how I used to be
Would you go along with someone like me?
If you knew my story word for word
Had all of my history
Would you go along with someone like me?
I did before and had my share
It didn't lead nowhere
I would go along with someone like you
It doesn't matter what you did
Who you were hanging with
We could stick around and see this night through
And we don't care about the young folks
Talkin' 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about their own faults
Talkin' 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
Usually when things has gone this far
People tend to disappear
No one will surprise me unless you do
I can tell there's something goin' on
Hours seems to disappear
Everyone is leaving I'm still with you
It doesn't matter what we do
Where we are going to
We can stick around and see this night through
And we don't care about the young folks
Talkin' 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about their own faults
Talkin' 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
And we don't care about the young folks
Talkin' 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about their own faults
Talkin' 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Lyrics submitted by superfantastisch!!!
Young Folks Lyrics as written by Peter Moren Bjorn Yttling
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is about someone who has really fucked up in the past. He meets someone new who seems to have changed his life. Because they feel so comfortable, he divulges everything he keeps inside, all his past regrets or just wrongdoings. Usually when people find out this about him they tend to leave him, but this new girl is different. She almost wants to hear more because she really cares. They spend forever talking and don't have another care in the world as long as they are together and interested in each other. They don't care about the standards of the younger generation, or especially of the older generation. They don't even care about the judgements of other individuals because they have each other. It's like a moment where they are frozen in time while others are passing by but because they are intertwined they don't notice anything but each other.
btw I absolutely love the whistling and drums too
it's so haunting. So sad but at the same time beautiful but about a beautiful connection that two people have that is underlined by sadness.
is it about a new relationship? i think it can also be about an old relationship, one of those flames that never goes away, ("usually when things has gone this far /people tend to disappear /no-one will surprise me unless you do")and the singer(s) are musing about how, in the big scheme of things, it's just about the two of them ("all we care 'bout is talking/talking only me and you").
sunshine goodtime finewine saltlime coolcrime YAY glad
"If I told you things I did before/ Told you how I used to be/ Would you go along with someone like me?" I interpret these three lines as showing that someone had had a rough past but finds someone he/she really cares about. He/she is telling someone their past and hoping that that person does not leave them because of it because he/she wants to be accepted by this person. "If you knew my story word for word/ Had all of my history/ Would you go along with someone like me?" I interpret these lines with the same concept. I believe that this person just wants to open up to someone but they are scared that the other will not accept them and not like them because of what they have done in the past.
this reminds me a little of human league's 'don;t you want me?' in the way that both male and female singers sing and represent their sides.... except this song is like a thousand times classically 'better' than the human league. Though the human league is quite good.
omg i can't believe this song hasn't had more posts. i don't know about the rest of the world but this song is massive in australia even though peter bjorn and john are a swedish trio as triple j quote "this is the year of swedish music" i love this song its so catchy and soo vute and the film clip is very innocent with all those little captions i reckon this song is aboutthis guy having a bad past and saying if i tell you all this stuff about me will you still go out with me this song is basically about true love where they can basically be careless because they are in love and nothing else matters
I agree completely, ya know you try to find someone who doesn't care about who you were but jsut about who you are. And when you find that person you don't want to be botehred about what others think about you two together. Definately a song about true love.
yeh im from australia too and i have LOVED this song for years and it never gets worse it just a really fun song. i also love the beats in the background it really makes the song for me
I believe that song could be not only about a romantic relationship, but maybe also a friendship. Sometimes you get to meet new people and you just don´t feel like stop talking to them...
its about accepting who you love, Ive done really regretfull things in the past and this song helps me out.
Yeah, I think beddy is right.
I don't know if you guys remember this, or if you even went through this in your teenage years. But when I would start dating people, they would tell me the regretful things they've done in the past, and it always killed me. I guess this is like the guy telling the girl about all the stuff he's done in the past, things mostly pertaining to the loss of his innocence (drugs, sex, ect.). I think he's hoping that she can see past all that, that maybe she's at that point of her life where she's just used to knowing that the people she becomes interested in will always have rough pasts.
I think the loss of innocence affects some people more than it does other people. Me, Holden Caughfield, and the writer of this song, it affects us a lot.
And in the second stanza, I think the girl is even admitting to the same type of things. They just relate together really well.