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She's got her halo and wings
Hidden under his eyes
But she's an angel for sure
She just can't stop telling lies
But it's too late for his love
Already caught in a trap
His angel's kiss was a joke
And she is not coming back
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Yeah she's got a criminal mind
He's got a reason to pray
His life is under the gun
He's got to hold every day
Now he just wants to wake up
Yeah, just to prove it's a dream
Cause she's an angel for sure
But that remains to be seen
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Stupid on the streets of London
James Dean in the rain
Without her it's not the same
The same, the same, but it's alright
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Again and again
Hidden under his eyes
But she's an angel for sure
She just can't stop telling lies
But it's too late for his love
Already caught in a trap
His angel's kiss was a joke
And she is not coming back
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Yeah she's got a criminal mind
He's got a reason to pray
His life is under the gun
He's got to hold every day
Now he just wants to wake up
Yeah, just to prove it's a dream
Cause she's an angel for sure
But that remains to be seen
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Stupid on the streets of London
James Dean in the rain
Without her it's not the same
The same, the same, but it's alright
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Again and again
Lyrics submitted by foldsbaldwin, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 02:34
"Under the Gun" as written by Brandon Flowers, Dave Brent Keuning, Mark August Stoermer, Ronnie Jr. Vannucci
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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She's got her halo and wings
Hidden under his eyes
But she's an angel for sure
She just can't stop telling lies
(A girl was romantically involved with me while she had a boyfriend, everyone called her a whore but she was such a sweet person. Anyway he sees her goodness but nobody else can. Shes so sweet and amazing but at the same time she lies to me and her boyfriend.)
But it's too late for his love
Already caught in a trap
(He tries not to love her but its too late, hes fallen. His love is caught in trap his love cant get out because she means so much to him.)
His angel's kiss was a joke
And she is not coming back
(He confessed his love and gave her sweet meaning love and kisses but she didnt really care, she went back to her boyfriend.
Thats the way the see the beginning. Everything pretty much goes hand and hand with that situation. Kill me now. Because she drives him crazy and he would rather be dead then not have her.
In my opinion, it's about a girl who he thought would be the love of his life, but she made a big mistake and dumped him. He was left so heartbroken and was still madly in love with her, despite knowing that she hurt him very badly (maybe cheating). Before she had a chance to realize the mistake she made or before he could confess he is still in love with her, she dies in a car accident and is left with the thought that he didn't do enough to get her back before he was too late. He is driven to the point of suicide just to be with her. "And only she can set him free" obviously means that the only thing that could have made him happy was her love.
The lyrics to The Killers are absolutely amazing. Can't wait for their new 2012 Album!!
Hidden under his eyes
But she's an angel for sure
She just can't stop telling lies
--signifies how he is in denial about her true nature, which is manipulative and false.
But it's too late for his love
Already caught in a trap
His angel's kiss was a joke
And she is not coming back
--he is completely hooked on her and he has given his love to her, but she is indifferent, got what she wanted from him and has taken off
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
--his imagination is obscured by the idea that this elusive girl is somehow on a level that is far above his and as a result, he is imprisoned by his fixation that he must somehow become worthy of her. The problem is she is the only one who can free him of this false notion but, of course, she won't because she thrives on the attention he gives her.
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
--self-explanatory, being hooked on a manipulative bitch is no fun.
Yeah she's got a criminal mind
He's got a reason to pray
His life is under the gun
He's got to hold every day
--She completely controls him
Now he just wants to wake up
Yeah, just to prove it's a dream
Cause she's an angel for sure
But that remains to be seen
--He's been emotionally whittled down to the core, his nerves are raw from her horrible treatment and he just wants this mental-mindf**kery-trial-by-fire to end so she will finally reveal her "true nature"--what he falsely believes she is like (kind, forgiving, sacrificial, you name it, whatever)--to him. Problem is, he's beginning to think crossing the finish line for her will be an anti-climax, as all the pain she is giving him is becoming too much to bear and he's coming around to the idea that maybe she's not the angel he thought she was.
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me
--see my explanation above for the chorus.
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
--see my explanation above.
Stupid on the streets of London
James Dean in the rain
Without her it's not the same
The same, the same, but it's alright
--self-medicating his deflated ego and accepting the end of the romance.
... .... again and again
--we repeat these mistakes
hidden under his eyes.
But she's an angel for sure.
She just can't stop tellin' lies.
But it's too late for his love;
Already caught in a trap.
His angel's kiss was a joke,
and she is not coming back.
•He thinks she's the greatest thing ever, but everyone else thinks otherwise. No matter how much everyone else tries to tell him that she's bad for him, he doesn't listen. She's not even with him anymore, but he still thinks he has a chance with her.
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Crashing cars in his brain
Keep him tied up to a dream
And only she can set him free
And then he says to me,
"Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now
Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now"
•He's got a lot of conflict. He knows she was bad, but refuses to believe it. Easier to just end it all than it is to admit he was wrong about her.
Yeah she's got a criminal mind
He's got a reason to pray
His life is under the gun
He's got to hold every day
Now he just wants to wake up
Yeah, just to prove it's a dream
Cause she's an angel for sure
But that remains to be seen
•She doesn't want to let go of him completely. She's still stringing him along for whatever reason. He's got a lot of pressure on him to leave, but he just doesn't want to.
From "This is your Life", I youtube-d Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side", and I *love* it too! In "...Wild Side", it says James Dean in it, too, which rang and instand bell to "Under the Gun".
I wasn't too sure of what the meanings of this song were, though, but I'm rather hooked on the girl in a car accident answer.
Although, when I first heard this song, Summer '08 when I got the CD for the first time, I thought it was something like a break up, but much more drastic (by saying it's a break-up makes it sound less meaningful with all the lyrics). "She's an angel for sure, but that remains to be seen", made me think that the guy/narrator beleives in her so much, just she hasn't reached her potential, really, and has perhaps slipt and fallen (perhaps in moral ways? or just not angelical. Or she is angelical / idolised a bit by him).
"It's too late for his love, already caught in the trap" I thought was the trap which he was in, encased psychologically from her because "only she can set him free". But I thought there must've been something else, as it didn't all make the best of sence like this - the car accident would make sence here I think, because it could be him replaying it all in his head, so it's like his experience all mixed up like a cocktail blender with the present tense of the Now, where "he says to me kill me now ..."
"She just can't stop telling lies", again, the guy sees the good in her - possibley her potential of goodness - but she's fallen, "criminal mind" could mean more than just - well - her being a criminal, but that she's stolen, or captured, his mind -- "Crashing cars in his brain" and his sheer dispaire of this situation.
To be honnest I didn't know the exact James Dean refference, which is *so* cringeworthy, I know.
"Again and again" at the end, maybe he's not feeling strong enough to let go - to kill himself, or to die? Or, just that he can't stand this, after what's happened - or how he's trapped in this repeat in his head of events.
And there's a utter and obvious sence of hopelessness, I feel, which is added to, by, "keep him tied to a dream". This guy is hooked onto this thing which is not the reality which he is living in, he's stuck on a fantasy of his own creation.
"Heaven sends and Heaven Takes", well, I thought initially that it could be the metaphorical way of someting like "Heaven-sent", more refference to idolised or angelic this girl is / was to him. Although, death would make the most obvious sence of it all with the "heaven takes"..
Sorry for my rambles, but I do hope that they make sence to someone who isn't me..
Her halo and wings are hidden, under his eyes. he knows shes an "angel" (good person) but that remains to be scene, since all she does is lead him on in some way but is never there for him when she needs her. she cant stop telling lies, not like any real angels i know.
his angel's kiss was a joke, since they have made up before, but she was just using him and he refuses to believe it. crashing cars in his brain with every little word that she says "keeps him tied to a dream," keeps giving him hope when all logic tells him to give up.
it seems that he is telling his friend about this, telling his friend about her. only she can set him free, but he knows that its not coming so he tells his friend to "kill me now" instead of slowly, i dont think that he is considering suicide, but just an escape of any kind.
"He has a reason to pray" since heaven sends and heaven takes, he understands that people can change and move on. he just wants to be okay, with or without her.
James Dean didn't commit suicide, though he did die in a car crash that he was driving in. I've read that he might have been suffering from some sort of depression, but that could have just been from the pressure of stardom. Also that he made comments about death, not fearing it, but seeing it as an escape. not suicidal, just thoughts.
I think the drug theory doesn't work, and the car crash, besides just mentioning a car crash, there isn't much for that idea.
Here I go:
Ok, first of all, the singer is obviously talking about a male friend who was in a relationship. So that would be good to remember, the singer is a 3rd viewpoint. So he can see the male and female in the relationship for what it really is, and not be biased.
So before I go by paragraph, the main idea is this. Imagine a male who has entered a relationship, and to him, the girl is an ABSOLUTE ANGEL. By angel I mean, he just thinks she's perfect, innocent, a heaven's gift. But in reality, unknown to him, she isn't like that at all. She isn't perfect, she's got a "criminal mind" (as in having not-good intentions). So, the relationship has ended, but the male is stuck in the dream world where he knew this "angel." He is so stuck in his past, one in which he thought he was with an angel, but wasn't. Basically, he can't move on. And so he says to the singer, "Kill me now," not literally probably, but it's just that his life seems bleak and meaningless.
.She's got her halo and wings
.Hidden under his eyes
-(the halo and wings don't exist, but the male's eyes they do. beauty in the eye of the beholder,one sees what he wants, etc, he felt like she was an angel)
.But she's an angel for sure
.She just can't stop telling lies
-(see the sarcasm? she's an angel, but she can't stop lying. showing the singer can see the truth)
.But it's too late for his love
.Already caught in a trap
.His angel's kiss was a joke
(the angel is the female, he regarded her kiss as an angel's kiss, but it wasn't. She is not an angel, figuratively.)
.And she is not coming back
-(self explanatory)
.Because heaven sends and heaven takes
-(To the male, the girl was a gift from the heavens. But when she left, it feels like heaven sent her and then took her away. In this case, it's more that the figurative image of the girl as an angel was taken, but also as well as the girl in the literal sense)
.Crashing cars in his brain
-(Some say its a car crash, I don't think so. I think this means more that his brain is a wreck, because he is so stuck on her)
.Keep him tied up to a dream
-(in his mind, he imagines her, it's a dream)
.And only she can set him free
-(He longs for the day he can rekindle the relationship with her, but she's gone, she's left. The girl is always on the mind of the male, so the only way to break the misery would be for the girl to meet him again.)
.And then he says to me
.Chorus
(self explanatory, not in a literal sense, more as a outcry from being miserable)
I will be a bit shorter with analysis now, because it should be pretty clear.
.Yeah she's got a criminal mind
.He's got a reason to pray
.His life is under the gun
.He's got to hold every day
-(So singer says the female has bad intentions. The male is so overwhelmed because this girl was perfect in everyway to him, but that was the exact from the truth. His life is under the gun, I don't quite understand the specifics, but I think it means that his life(figuratively) is in front of a gun, so it's a struggle to live. And so he's got to hold everyday, or just hang in there.)
Now he just wants to wake up
Yeah, just to prove it's a dream
Cause she's an angel for sure
But that remains to be seen
(In the male's mind, he's dreaming about her. He wants to wake up(from reality) and wants to acknowledge that REALITY is a DREAM(or that it never happened). Another sarcasm here: she's angel for sure, but that remains to be seen.
.Stupid on the streets of London
.James Dean in the rain
.Without her it's not the same
.The same, the same, but it's alright
-(The London lyrics don't mean anything specifically to mean, as in I don't know why he mentioned London, but I can imagine he's just living in misery and without a goal, because all he can think is about her. James Dean in the rain, from the movie Rebel Without a Cause, who was a loner, so alienated, so just means he's living a sedentary life. Without her, life isnt the same anymore. The last line of this is a bit different, because I can't figure out if the male wants to live the way he is(all miserable, etc) or that he is slowly getting over her.)
So in conclusion, I think the reason is pretty clear. If this is too long for you to read, go back up and read the third paragrah.
---
Another great music video that is similar to this, by Gnarls Barkley, "Who's gonna save my soul now?" Look it up on youtube(i'd post a link but it would probably be taken down) or whatever, look for the music video black female and white male and they're in restaurant and talk through half of the video. The video is more sarcastic and comical, but still on the sad side.
In the end, a song is what you make of it. But I would tend to say that the lyrics would point in the direction I've laid out above, however, if you feel it's different, that's cool. Because a song is varies to everyone on the personal level, but I think that The Killers made the song with the above in mind.