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.
Joe the lion
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he said
"Tell you who you are if you nail me to my car"
Boy
Thanks for hesitating
This is the kiss off
Boy
Thanks for hesitating
You'll never know the real story
Just a couple of dreams
You get up and sleep
You can, by god, it's Monday
Slither down the greasy pipe
So far so good, no one saw you
Hobble over any freeway
You will be like your dreams tonight
You get up and sleep
You get up and sleep
Joe the lion
Made of iron
Joe the lion
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he was
A fortune teller he said
"Nail me to my car and I'll tell you who you are"
Joe the lion, yeah yeah
Went to the bar, yeah yeah
A couple of dreams and he was
A fortune teller
(Nail me to my car tell you who you are) he said
You get up and sleep
The wind blows on your check
The day laughs in your face
Guess you'll buy a gun
You'll buy it secondhand
You'll get up and sleep
Joe the lion made of iron
Joe the lion made of iron
Joe the lion made of iron
Joe the lion made of
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he said
"Tell you who you are if you nail me to my car"
Boy
Thanks for hesitating
This is the kiss off
Boy
Thanks for hesitating
You'll never know the real story
Just a couple of dreams
You get up and sleep
You can, by god, it's Monday
Slither down the greasy pipe
So far so good, no one saw you
Hobble over any freeway
You will be like your dreams tonight
You get up and sleep
You get up and sleep
Joe the lion
Made of iron
Joe the lion
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he was
A fortune teller he said
"Nail me to my car and I'll tell you who you are"
Joe the lion, yeah yeah
Went to the bar, yeah yeah
A couple of dreams and he was
A fortune teller
(Nail me to my car tell you who you are) he said
You get up and sleep
The wind blows on your check
The day laughs in your face
Guess you'll buy a gun
You'll buy it secondhand
You'll get up and sleep
Joe the lion made of iron
Joe the lion made of iron
Joe the lion made of iron
Joe the lion made of
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
"You get up and sleep" sums up this song -- sleeping though life wityhout truly living -- only in his death will he know all. A nice compliment to the previous track, the drug debate "Beauty and The Beast" -- HEROES is definaetly an album about conflict between two ideas that one is dealing with on an epic level. That and disillusionment coupled with seperation brought on my artificial means, like governments (As in Heroes or Secret Life Of ArABIA)
I eventually found the meaning of the line "nail me to my car", when I saw the performance by the American artist named Chris Burden. See the following photo: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Burden
The song was inspired by Chris Burden faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-bowie-song-inspired-by-conceptual-artist-chris-burden/
GUESS WHY MY NAME IS JOE THE LION
I'm not a native-english-speaker. Can anyone tell what the line "This is the kiss off" means? And waht does the line "Joe the lion = Made of iron" mean? Does it mean that "Joe is a macho man"?
kkoichi---I think "This is the kiss off" means, "This is goodbye" and yeah... made of iron probably means he's a macho man.
This song reminds of the story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Mitty is a boring, submissive, weak, man; but in his dreams he is the bold hero everyone looks to in awe. I think Joe refers to the "average Joe" and how he wishes he could be more than average.
No, nope, Nada... This song rings of bisexuality. Joe the Lion? Seems go be a nickname for a lover..."made of iron"? He has a hard dick.... Bowie is writing in innuendo, much like Elton John..
This is definitely about a perfomance artist that Bowie saw. I dont think its about bisexuality. Somebody else the link to the artist on Wikipedia
GUESS WHY MY NAME IS JOE THE LION