From the housetops to the gutters
From the ocean to the shore
The warning signs have all been bright and garish
Far too great in number to ignore

From the cities to the swamplands
From the highways to the hills
Our love has never had a leg to stand on
From the aspirins to the cross-tops to the Elevils
But I will walk down to the end with you
If you will come all the way down with me

From the entrance to the exit
Is longer than it looks from where we stand
I want to say I'm sorry for stuff I haven't done yet
Things will shortly get completely out of hand
I can feel it in the rotten air tonight
In the tips of my fingers
In the skin on my face
In the weak last gasp of the evening's dying light
In the way those eyes I've always loved illuminate this place
Like a trashcan fire in a prison cell
Like the searchlights in the parking lots of hell
I will walk down to the end with you
If you will come all the way down with me



Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery

Track duration: 02:52


Old College Try song meanings
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17 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I hate when people say they want this song to be their wedding song (mainly YouTube people). They clearly aren't listening to the song at all... "I will walk down to the end with you if you come all the way down with me" isn't a happy line. This song isn't a happy song at all.
    Flag halo0125on October 06, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I would not think this song would qualify as "cute." The male is accepting his miserable life, that they will always be together and subsequently always make each other miserable. And I guess he's kinda willing to do that as long as she is.
    Flag kittykazon May 11, 2011   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:I have a bootleg of a concert where John introduces this song and tells us all its meaning:

    "This is a song about two people who love eachother very much, but accept their lot in life to torture eachother to death".
    Flag nicked2101on January 20, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:I think what's really missing from the prior interpretations is that this song really is not hopeful. This is the Alpha male's absolute last attempt to make this irreparably broken thing work. It's not a compromise. It's a fatalistic acceptance that their love is more important than their lives.

    "But I will walk / Down to the end with you / If you will come / All the way down with me"

    It's important to note the use of the word "down" in relation to where their going and to know what the Alpha male is referring to by "the end." Many songs relating to the Alphas refer to them moving either up or down vertically (or pretending to move up while actually moving downward). In this song, the end of their relationship is _worse_ than where they are now, as denoted by the downward movement.

    "From the entrance to the exit / Is longer than it looks from where we stand"

    He's pleading a bit. The end of the marriage (or more likely, their lives) is farther away than she thinks it is.

    "In the weak last gasp of the evening's dying light
    In the way those eyes I've always loved illuminate this place
    Like a trashcan fire in a prison cell
    Like the searchlights in the parking lots of hell"

    Here he compares the marriage and/or his life to both a prison and the entrance to hell. However, he compares her eyes to two things that are in some way hopeful or welcoming: fire and searchlights. These things both point upwards to a place that he values as being better than where he is.
    Flag burritoomgon June 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:'The warning signs have all been bright and garish
    Far too great in number to ignore'
    I want to quote this entire song, it feels so honest and filled with a very sad kind of love.
    'In the way those eyes I've always loved illuminate this place
    Like a trashcan fire in a prison cell
    Like the searchlights in the parking lots of hell'

    Yeah, and the slight bitter/grim aspect amongst the sweet sounds and the beautiful lyrics, it reminds me of the realization that you are never meant to be with someone, never going to 'work', but the FACT that you love them way way too much to ever leave them.

    'I want to say I'm sorry for stuff I haven't done yet'- God I feel like that a lot.

    Flag HEYBeenTryingToMEETyouon June 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about a guy who hates everyone and everything in the world except for this one girl, and he's willing for the first time in his life to go through this 'horrible' life with her by his side, if he can figure out how. "I will walk down to the end with you if you will come all the way down with me" is just so cute.
    Flag sheionizeson April 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:it's spelled elavil not 'elevil'
    Flag Alluiviallon February 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:old college try means to make something work even though you don't even know how. i'm guessing they've already been through so much, that there's no use in turning back now for it all be in vain. "even though we're both in hell, we can make it through because i love you."
    Flag roulette_dareson July 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The Alpha Male is trying to create a compromise to keep the relationship working. He really loves his wife, and says that he'll do all he can for her if she'll do all she can for him.

    Apparently it doesn't work, because the very next song on the album begins the spousal abuse.
    Flag Blithiumon January 25, 2009   Link
  • +4
    General Comment:It's about the determination to see this ugly, broken, fucked-up thing through to its bitter, hateful, pointless end.
    Flag Michael Fureyon June 13, 2008   Link

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