Save some face, you know you've only got one
Change your ways while you're young
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh girl, he'll help you understand

Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it

Looking back at sunsets on the East side
We lost track of the time
Dreams aren't what they used to be
Some things slide by so carelessly

Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it

And someone is calling my name
From the back of the restaurant
And someone is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
And someone will drive her around
Down the same streets that I did
On the same streets that I did

Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it

Oh no, oh no no no
Oh no, oh no no no

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Lyrics submitted by Linger:, edited by phoebe9261

Smile Like You Mean It Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Smile Like You Mean It song meanings

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I agree that it's about suicide, if not that, then just a deep depression. The point of view is sung by someone who has hit rock bottom in their life.

The narrator/singer is at first warning youngsters. "Change your ways while you're young"/Don't just piss your life away and learn to regret it when you're too old to change any of it.

"Dreams aren't what they used to be" -- when you're younger, the dreams and aspirations you have are so big, and the most of the time you can't really fulfill them in this world. So, things have taken a darker turn.

And I think it's clear that the narrator/singer commits or contemplates suicide by looking at how the last verse is in the past tense, mostly the repetition of the line "(Someone's driving her around) down the same streets that I did/On he same streets that I did" as if Flowers repeats it to get the point across.

With depression, you remember events that weren't even really that spectacular at the time with an almost joy, I think that last verse is him reflecting before killing himself.

Good song. I think this song was a little inspired by New Order's "Ceremony," another song vaguely about suicide/depression.

I agree that it's about suicide, if not that, then just a deep depression. The point of view is sung by someone who has hit rock bottom in their life. The narrator/singer is at first warning youngsters. "Change your ways while you're young"/Don't just piss your life away and learn to regret it when you're too old to change any of it. "Dreams aren't what they used to be" -- when you're younger, the dreams and aspirations you have are so big, and the most of the time you can't really fulfill them in this world. So, things have taken a darker turn. And I think it's clear that the narrator/singer commits or contemplates suicide by looking at how the last verse is in the past tense, mostly the repetition of the line "(Someone's driving her around) down the same streets that I did/On he same streets that I did" as if Flowers repeats it to get the point across. With depression, you remember events that weren't even really that spectacular at the time with an almost joy, I think that last verse is him reflecting before killing himself. Good song. I think this song was a little inspired by New Order's "Ceremony," another song vaguely about suicide/depression.

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Dokuroon September 25, 2005 Link
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@Dokuro

It's true, when you look back you see things better than they were when you are depressed.

Acexnzon March 07, 2012