Lyrics for Only The Good Die Young as interpreted by kevin

Only The Good Die Young Lyrics
Come out Virginia, don't let me me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
But sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one
They showed you a statue and told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
But they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done.....
Only the good die young


You might have 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
But that never hurt no one
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 lets in the sun
And only the good die young


You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
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


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
Sinners are much more fun...
And only the good die young


You say your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
She never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?

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  • 54 Comments
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maxpower114
02-08-2002

Rated 0 
Does everyone agree that he wrote this song about deflowering a virgin?

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weezerific:cutlery
03-22-2002

Rated 0 
yeah, or wanting to deflower a virgin...

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Ferthuko
04-10-2002

Rated 0 
Trying to convince a virgin to give it up. But "those Catholic girls start much too late".

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mydarkesthour
05-18-2002

Rated 0 
It is a song about trying to get a girl to give up her virginity because he saying to her that its no use trying to be good your whole life cause it won't work, the only people that are free from sin when they die are babies just born from the womb.

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freddysgirl
05-29-2002

Rated 0 
this song is about telling a girl to just cut loose for once

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luckye225
06-29-2002

Rated 0 
this used to be my theme song. hahaha.. ahem. but yeah, i totally think it's about trying to get a "good girl" to be a little crazy. and the sex thing is definitely implied.. "i might as well be the one." good song. billy joel rules.

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Good_OL_MC
08-21-2002

Rated 0 
Ya gotta love a song about getting a Catholic girl to give it up...

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wpot
10-15-2002

Rated 0 
Her name really was Virginia, the first girl he had a crush on in high school.

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zerolives
03-23-2003

Rated 0 
I've also heard what wpot posted, and I think it's more than just about the sex, it could almost be considered an anti-catholic song, and I'm really surprised that it wasn't blackballed or made an example of by the zealots out there.

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luckypairofshoes
03-28-2003

Rated 0 
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.

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carabiner86
05-10-2003

Rated 0 
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 :)

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littlewing
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
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.

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maharishi
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
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

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maharishi
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
The name Virginia is an obvious choice.

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abc55555
02-07-2005

Rated 0 
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

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Juno
02-21-2005

Rated 0 
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.

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lilamishgirl26
03-05-2005

Rated 0 
This song pissed off a buncha people, but Billy ended up apologizing to the Catholics...so itz all good.

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pooperscooper
05-01-2005

Rated 0 
I get what the song is about but why would "only the good die young"??? I don't get that.

also, tshirthell.com has a shirt with a picture of Pope John Paul II that says "ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG"

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nickjp
05-09-2005

Rated 0 
to mydarkesthour:
even babies are born with "original sin." they get rid of that in baptism.

and yeah, it's about deflowering some catholic girl.

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lyss222
07-11-2005

Rated 0 
to pooperscooper:
this took me a little while to figure out as well. to say "only the good die young" doesn't mean they literally die. it means if you never put yourself out there and have fun once in a while, you aren't really living. hence, only the good "die" young! this song is one of my favorites!

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onafriday
12-16-2005

Rated 0 
immortalize the young for they are dead

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jimmer-the-great
12-16-2005

Rated -1 
Yeah the Catholic church asked their "flock" to boycott Billy Joel and my dad being raised Catholic had never heard it untill this past summer and no longer being catholic he loved it.
And the sinners do have more fun, trust me.

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Ditch
01-09-2006

Rated 0 
I agree 100% with lyss 222's interpretation.

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luckytumble
02-20-2006

Rated 0 
Okay. My friend's bosses neice used to date Billy Joel before he got really big. Billy asked her to go on tour with him and her mother said no because she is a Catholic girl. No kidding. Everytime he comes around here he sends her tickets. Pretty cool story. I know a few people around here who have known him. Anyway, this song is about her. They changed her name to Virginia in the song because of 'Virgin.'

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mlv2148
03-02-2006

Rated 0 
That is the worst relation to Billy Joel. The song is actually about a girl named Virginia he went to high school with. She is my best friend's mom and she currently lives in Virginia. Billy Joel still asks her to respond but she does not. They didn't change any name for the song.

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