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.
I know what you want
I'm gonna take you to a midnight show tonight
If you can keep a secret
I got a blanket in the back seat on my mind
And a little place that sits beneath the sky
She turned her face to speak but no-one heard her cry
Drive faster, boy
Drive faster, boy, ooh, yeah-ooh
I know there's a hope
There's too many people trying to help me cope
You got a real short skirt
I wanna look up, look up, look up, yeah, yeah
We were just in time
Let me take a little more off your mind
There's something in my head, somewhere in the back, saying
"We were just a good thing, we were such a good thing"
Make it go away without a word
But promise me you'll stay and fix these things I've heard
Oh, make it go away
Drive faster, boy, ooh, yeah-ooh
Oh, no
A crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl
With jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls
I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier
Of stars in atmosphere and watched her disappear
Into the midnight show
Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no
If can you keep a secret
Well, baby, I can keep it if you can keep a secret
If can you keep a secret, I can keep a secret
If can you keep a secret
Well, baby, I can keep it if you can keep a secret
I'm gonna take you to a midnight show tonight
If you can keep a secret
I got a blanket in the back seat on my mind
And a little place that sits beneath the sky
She turned her face to speak but no-one heard her cry
Drive faster, boy
Drive faster, boy, ooh, yeah-ooh
I know there's a hope
There's too many people trying to help me cope
You got a real short skirt
I wanna look up, look up, look up, yeah, yeah
We were just in time
Let me take a little more off your mind
There's something in my head, somewhere in the back, saying
"We were just a good thing, we were such a good thing"
Make it go away without a word
But promise me you'll stay and fix these things I've heard
Oh, make it go away
Drive faster, boy, ooh, yeah-ooh
Oh, no
A crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl
With jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls
I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier
Of stars in atmosphere and watched her disappear
Into the midnight show
Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no
If can you keep a secret
Well, baby, I can keep it if you can keep a secret
If can you keep a secret, I can keep a secret
If can you keep a secret
Well, baby, I can keep it if you can keep a secret
Lyrics submitted by K-nuxXx, edited by Kiiro, phoebe9261
Midnight Show Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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Im suprised there hasnt been more comments either! I love love love this song! I never really listened to it when I first bought the album but its really grown on me. Ive spent many hours trying to figure out exactly what its about. My latest theory is that he’s planned to kill his girlfriend….im not sure if she’s cheated on him but she’s definetly done something wrong – “crashing time cant hide a guilty girl”….i think he’s told her that they are going to a secret place where they can be alone, and to fool around, but he’s really taking her there to kill her and doesn’t want anyone to know where they’re going. Driving out to wherever he’s taking her though, I think the conscience starts to kick in inside his head – “There's something in my head, Somewhere in the back said, We were just a good thing, We were such a good thing” – I think “let me take a little more off your mind” is being sarcastic as he’s about to kill her. “make it go away” is referring to the voice in his head….and also possibly her dead body after he realizes what he’s done. I think the “midnight show” is the murder itself…maybe he gets off on the drama and theatrics of it…and I think the “chandelier” underneath which he kills her, is the moon. I used to think this was just a song about going out in the dark to find somewhere to get it on, but I love that its about a murder now…theres something very sexy about this song, Brandon sure knows how to tell a good story!
Okay. I have done a lot of investigation and reading about The Murder Trilogy. So now, once and for all, I will tell you what it is. This is the correct information.
The order of the songs is as follows:
The story goes like this: First, in Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf, the speaker tells us of a girl named Jenny, whom he is in love with. She is leaving him and he begs her to stay. But she leaves and he then begins drinking away his sorrows. He later sees her with another man and becomes angry and jealous. He decides to kill her. Second, in Midnight Show, he takes the girl out, tempting her with promises of a good time. He wants her, but he wants to kill her more. He takes her to a secluded area, but then he starts having second thoughts. He pushes those thoughts away. He kills her, then dumps her body in the ocean. Realizing what he's done, he flees the scene. Third, in Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine, he is being questioned by the police about Jenny's murder. He gives them a fake story of what happened, hoping to get away. While speaking, he thinks about how he actually killed her, but doesn't say it aloud. One of the cops sees the guilt on his face and knows he did it. It ends with him desperately defending himself, knowing he's been caught.
They are making a movie out of the murder trilogy, i so cant wait! Oh and the lyrics "She said she loved me!" are the best in the song, you should all try driving while listening to this really loud, and then scream out this part, its so fun! You sure get some funny looks though!!
LOVE THIS SONG! Brandons voice is so sexy....heres wat I think the lines mean:
I know what you want- (come, lets go 2 a place, mess around) I wanna take you a midnight show tonight (it’s a surprise) If you can keep a secret(don’t tell anyone your going) I got a blanket in the back seat of my mind (I know I’m gonna kill u) And a little place that sits beneath the sky (I know where I’m gonna kill u) She turned her face to speak But no-one heard her cry (noone saw/heard her leave) Drive faster, boy (I used to it was the girl sayin drive faster boy, then I figured out he was thinking. his thoughts: he has to get to the place, before anyone realizes shes gone or before he changes his mind) Drive faster, boy
I know there's a hope There's too many people trying to help me cope (2 many people consoling me that ur dead) You got a real short skirt (slut.) I wanna look up, look up, look up, yeah yeah (But I’m gonna kill u instead)
We were just in time (in time 2 kill u) Let me take a little more off your mind (Like all off it…) There's something in my head (Thoughts in his mind) Somewhere in the back said We were just a good thing We were such a good thing
Make it go away without a word (he’s pushing the thoughts away) But promise me you'll stay (she didn’t agree to promis.) Fix these things I've hurt
Make it go away! (The voices!) Drive faster, boy (push away the voices, concertrate)
Oh crashing time can't hide a guilty girl (shes “guilty” she needs to punished for her sins.) With jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls ( I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier. (He killed her) Of stars in atmosphere And watch her disappear (watched her die) Into the midnight show
lyrics, disposition, power to confront it and sneer. Fucking total...Everything is in the ambiguity of his voice, his intentions...His fear in your face. You can't stand how much you want it...
One word: MURDER.
"I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier of stars and atmosphere, and watched her disappear?"
Somehow I doubt it's simply kissing her breath away. And the synthesizer background mimics the distant sound of sirens, just like in "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine." This band is clearly fixated on death, jealousy, and murder.
Also, at the very end, you can hear the distant and enraged lyric, "She said she loved me!"
Great song. Surprised it hasn't gotten more comments.
i agree. But i listened for a bit at the end twice and can't hear anything. are you sure? is it right at the end?
It's not murder, it's him and his girlfriend losing their virginity, simple as that.
cyrolophosaurus, I feel like we should be friends, because I agree with everything you said! <br /> <br /> And, I don't think it's about taking her virginity. <br /> <br /> There's something in my head<br /> Somewhere in the back said<br /> We were just a good thing<br /> We were such a good thing<br /> <br /> Make it go away without a word<br /> But promise me you'll stay<br /> Fix these things I've hurt<br /> <br /> Make's it appear as though the two have previously had a relationship, it went sour, and now he's trying to deal with it, and the only way he feels he can do that is by killing her.<br /> <br /> Sorry, one last thing. <br /> <br /> She turned her face to speak<br /> But no-one heard her cry<br /> Drive faster, boy<br /> <br /> Kinda makes it sound like a kidnapping.<br /> <br /> Kay, I'm done. Sorry, I just like talking about soung interpretations Loved that in my Lit. class. :)
midnight show is about the whole murder of Jenny.<br /> in the first song, "leave the bourbon on the shelf," he talks about being jealous because Jenny is fooling around with other men and he's drunk and he's clearly not thinking straight. <br /> this song, i think, is him trying to get a night with Jenny again... but he has already planned her murder.<br /> because of this i think the lyrics are "the crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl"<br /> who has even heard of crashing time???<br /> and because he saying thaaaat, he's saying <br /> "I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier of stars and atmosphere, and watched her disappear into the midnight show" because that is when he kills her and throws her into the water. the midnight show being the whole murder. <br /> in the next song, Jenny, he is trying to say he didn't do it.
Jessicaroses hit the nail on the head. It's a murder trilogy consisting of, in order, "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf", "Midnight Show", and "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine".
@cyrolophosaurus Lol, I kinda had a moment where I was reading your comment about the band being fixated on death and murder and I was like, “well, yeah, duh, the band is called The Killers”... and I actually stopped and thought about that, because it never really sunk in that THE BAND IS CALLED “THE KILLERS”.
This song screams murder; this song screams sex appeal.. ..in that morbid, sexy way.
I just friggin -love- it.
mr. flowers you are a genious (and a sex god)
I feel like the line "If you can keep a secret, I can keep a secret" might be sarcastic...perhaps it's stating that since she kept the secret that she was cheating on him, now he's keeping the secret of her murder.
realy fantastic trilogy this is the second one. LOVE THE KILLERS!
But i see a lot of people are confused about the sentence:
"If you can keep a secret, i can keep a secret"
I think it's about that Jenny kept the secret that she cheated on him and now Brandon is being a bit sarcastic to say that sentence because he will keep it secret that he murdered her
That's how it think about it.
omg you guys i've never thought about it, but Rizo you've got it! that's exactly what it is and cyrolophosaurus, i never heard the "she said she loved me" in the backround until you mentioned it wow! Now, if you think about all of their songs are seemingly about love, but alot throw a little hate, jealousy, anger, and even murder in a few. then their name is the Killers so why not? wow shivers even if his songs are about those things, he oddly enough sings them so that right then and there you're ready to jump in bed w/ him. Brandon is an AMAZING artist. I love that boy!