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.
Onward, and onward, and onward I go
Where no man before could be bothered to go
'Til the soles of my shoes are shot full of holes
And it's all downhill with a bullet
This ramblin' and rovin' has taken it's course
I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses
And the city streets crack and a great hole forces
Me down with my soapbox, my pulpit
The theater ceiling is silver star spangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
There's a man in the theater with girlish eyes
Who's holding my childhood to ransom
On the screen there's a death
There's a rustle of cloth
And a sickly voice calling me handsome
There's a man in the theater with sly girlish eyes
On the screen there's an ape, a gorilla
There's a groan, there's a cough, there's a rustle of cloth
And a voice that stinks of death and vanilla
This is a secret, mauled and mangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
The walls in the ceiling are painted in blood
The lights go down, the red curtains come apart
The air is full of smoke and dialogue I know by heart
And the coins in my pocket jingle-jangle
As the great screen crackled and popped
And the clock of my boyhood was wound down and stopped
And my handsome little body oddly propped
And my trousers ride down to my ankles
Yes, onward, and upward
And I'm off to find love
Do you love me? If you do, I'm thankful
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
This city is an ogre squatting by the river
It gives life but it takes it away, my youth
There comes a time when you just cannot deliver
This is a fact
This is a stone cold truth
Do you love me?
I love you, handsome
Do you love me?
Yes, I love you, you are handsome
Amongst the cogs and the wires, my youth
Vanilla breath and handsome apes with girlish eyes
Dreams that roam between truth and untruth
Memories that become monstrous lies
So onward, and onward, and onward I go
Onward and upward and I'm off to find love
With blue-black bracelets on my wrists and my ankles
And the coins in my pocket going jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Where no man before could be bothered to go
'Til the soles of my shoes are shot full of holes
And it's all downhill with a bullet
This ramblin' and rovin' has taken it's course
I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses
And the city streets crack and a great hole forces
Me down with my soapbox, my pulpit
The theater ceiling is silver star spangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
There's a man in the theater with girlish eyes
Who's holding my childhood to ransom
On the screen there's a death
There's a rustle of cloth
And a sickly voice calling me handsome
There's a man in the theater with sly girlish eyes
On the screen there's an ape, a gorilla
There's a groan, there's a cough, there's a rustle of cloth
And a voice that stinks of death and vanilla
This is a secret, mauled and mangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
The walls in the ceiling are painted in blood
The lights go down, the red curtains come apart
The air is full of smoke and dialogue I know by heart
And the coins in my pocket jingle-jangle
As the great screen crackled and popped
And the clock of my boyhood was wound down and stopped
And my handsome little body oddly propped
And my trousers ride down to my ankles
Yes, onward, and upward
And I'm off to find love
Do you love me? If you do, I'm thankful
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
This city is an ogre squatting by the river
It gives life but it takes it away, my youth
There comes a time when you just cannot deliver
This is a fact
This is a stone cold truth
Do you love me?
I love you, handsome
Do you love me?
Yes, I love you, you are handsome
Amongst the cogs and the wires, my youth
Vanilla breath and handsome apes with girlish eyes
Dreams that roam between truth and untruth
Memories that become monstrous lies
So onward, and onward, and onward I go
Onward and upward and I'm off to find love
With blue-black bracelets on my wrists and my ankles
And the coins in my pocket going jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Lyrics submitted by Songmeaningsuser, edited by Mellow_Harsher, DiogoLopes
Do You Love Me?, Pt. 2 Lyrics as written by Nicholas Cave
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Mute Song Limited
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
It's based on the story 'The Juniper Tree' by Peter Straub (from his book 'Houses Without Doors') - a wonderfully disturbing work by a great author. Besides the 'jingle-jangle' and the chorus, I suppose it connects to Part 1 by how both songs seem to describe finding love as both a release and torment, and how the intensity of that particular moment can not be replicated.
@kordo - Thank you; that was actually most informative... I just bought a copy from Amazon, as a result of that reference. I've read some of Straub's work previously, I like his literary style... How pleasant to meet someone that actually knows of what they speak, on a lyrics 'meaning' site! Genuinely; thank you.
I tried to find the article i read this in, but this was apparently based on a book Nick was reading, which had a scene where a child is molested in a movie theater while watching king kong. The song in it's entirety appears to be more about the repercussions of the molestation/rape on the child later in life than the act itself - though we do spend a lot of time hearing about the act.
For a while i didn't piece this together. A friend of mine shed some light and it immediately took on a whole new life. If you've never heard the song knowing this is what it's about - you just have to re listen - right now. Click open iTunes and listen to it - simple lines like "my handsome little body, oddly propped" and "the coins in my pocket jingle jangled" become horrible images so effective and disturbing that i am almost ashamed to say what an amazing song this is. He never has to even mention anything specifically (perhaps a testament to the power of letting readers/listeners/viewers fill in the blanks) and you feel as dirty as if you were the man with girlish eyes with breath of death and vanilla.
This is the kind of song he just doesn't write anymore - and with obvious reasons. I don't know the sort of toll this takes on a mans soul writing this kind of song - but it truly is a great piece of song writing, underscored beautifully by the ominous and frightening music from the Bad Seeds.
Cave said that the smell of vanilla reminds him of the smell of semen. So that explains why the stranger's breath smells of vanilla.
Even 15 years later, every time I hear this song it leaves me speechless.
Vanilla semen? Hmm. Odd.
rape
paedophilia no less...pretty horrible to listen to, truely makes your skin crawl
Aaaargh I wish never knew about the child story .. :| Huuum .. Now how much would this imply part 1 ?
This is one of the most thrilling and beautiful song on child molesting I've ever heard...it just made me cry every time. It is breathtaking, as it grabs the essence of the abuse, and how it ruins the victim's life.
I think Nick's father gave him the book Lolita to read when he was pretty young, so within this song and also in part 1 maybe Nick is trying to make sense of this.
I just finished reading "The Juniper Tree". It definitely connects with this song, and it gives the chorus (Do You Love Me) a whole new terrible meaning. Nick Cave is a master at conveying harsh truths with subtle poetry, and I recommend both the song and the story to everyone.
Finally finishing what I thought was a great read, "And the Ass Saw the Angel", the ending of which made me physically ill, and now reading these lyrics which, to part 1 of the song WAS one of my favorites, I am truly repulsed. A longtime fan of Cave's, can't stomach this, seems all his once lovely longings hint to children. He says "Lolita" is best book of 20th century, a book widely revered by pedophiles, cloaked as "art". WTF, Nick???? WTF??? This isn't just art. The artist who mended my heart so many times, now breaks it anew. Crushed.
You do realize that just because he wrote a song incorporating that scene doesn't mean he had any physical interest in that sort of stuff? Yes, it's a disheartening subject matter but quite a few of Nicks song deal with harsh truths, as someone above noted. Anyway, we don't know what toll writing this song had on Nick, and he did once say that he "would do anything for a good song." Also, it's not like he came up with the story himself; he was probably simply trying to convey the impact he thought it might've had on the child and whatnot, and it's not like the theme reoccurs in his discography or interviews often as an interest of any sorts. And in regards with the rest of the album and Pt. 1 of the song, I think it's pretty clear that the most of it was quite heavily effected by the woman he was with at the time and their relationship, you don't need to read interviews or bios to know this. What I'm trying to say is that although the song deals with something repulsive, I don't think it should be something to negate long lasting admiration or anything.
@bethandbaby - oh lordy, wtf are you on? Oh and yes 'Lolita' is indeed a work of art. Grow up.