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.
Yeah
Lover I'm off the streets
Gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
With a red guitar, on fire
Desire
She's the candle
Burning in my room
I'm like the needle
Needle and spoon
Over the counter
With a shotgun
Pretty soon, everybody got one
And the fever when I'm beside her
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
Burning
Burning
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Yeah, she's the promise
In the year of election
Ah, sister, I can't let you go
I'm like a preacher
Stealing hearts at a traveling show
For the love or money, money?
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
Lover I'm off the streets
Gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
With a red guitar, on fire
Desire
She's the candle
Burning in my room
I'm like the needle
Needle and spoon
Over the counter
With a shotgun
Pretty soon, everybody got one
And the fever when I'm beside her
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
Burning
Burning
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Yeah, she's the promise
In the year of election
Ah, sister, I can't let you go
I'm like a preacher
Stealing hearts at a traveling show
For the love or money, money?
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by lwxb
Desire Lyrics as written by Dave Evans Adam Clayton
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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How is there only one post for this song. It's a classic. And lemon is attracting more attention then it. Not to put Lemon down or anything but DESIRE!!! No such thing as the best U2 song but this is (as always) the lads in top form.
this song is about herion addiction. "needle and spoon" Bono has written man songs about heroin addiction such as running to stand still and bad, his close friend died of a heroin overdose.
I LOVE this song! It is so great.. You hear the passion in Bono's voice!! I love it acousitc too (Slane DVD) great version!!! My sister finds it annoying but I cannot see how that is possible. It is definitley about Blind Ambition in every line you see it.
One of my favorite U2 songs-this song can also turn into a good accoustic version. To me, the line "Over the counter with that shotgun. Pretty soon everybody got one." has something to do with U2's hate for guns and their efforts for better gun control. The whole song actually could have something to do with some of the bad points of our country.
Bono-"this is a song about blind ambition"
Great song!<br /> I agree with 'U2U2'<br /> It really is the ambition as far as you can go
I have to admit to not being a great U2 fan, however i was sat here surfing e bay and i happened to pop U2 80 to 90 in the cd player and Desire just blew me away! i came here looking to find a defenition or some meaning to the words, personally i thought it was all about addiction to heroin, but i may be wrong.
This is my probably my favorite song by U2. I think this song is about the band's desire for fame and how it's finally being fufilled(Rattle and Hum came out after huge success of The Joshua Tree). Also, in the line "Like a preacher stealing hearts in a travelling show, for love or money, money, money." Bono is questioning himself whether he is doing this because he loves music or because he has a desire to stay famous.
Ya it makes me think of prostitution too.But its a great song that I think could be about many things. The harmonica part at the end is a good finis for this song.
This song is describing how desires for things can be incredibly strong, with a "burning" feeling. The line:
She's the dollars, she's my protection Yeah, she's a promise in the year of election Oh sister, I can't let you go
says that the desire is for a woman. The song also questions why people preach:
I'm like a preacher stealing hearts at a travelling show For love or money, money, money...
this makes me thing whether the preachers are doing it for the love of the followers, or to make a get-rich-quick. A very thought-provoking line...
But this song is still great to listen to, fantastic!
This is for me an example of how music can grow on you. When I first started listening to U2 I did'nt liked this song at all; this is way to wild for me I thought. But when I listened to it again later on I actually liked it, especially the rythm.