Lyrics for When You Were Young as interpreted by sam_attack

When You Were Young Lyrics
You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentlemen
Like you imagined when you were young

Can we climb this mountain? I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now- here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentlemen
Like you imagined when you were young
When you were young

I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know

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Wulfe87
07-13-2006

Rated +1 
I think it means she was waiting for someone to save her, but looking at the wrong person...
I'm not liking this one as well as their other songs, I hope their new CD is better.

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the_howee
07-13-2006

Rated 0 
I must've heard this song 5 times on the radio today....i spose it was their debut day....and I have to say I did not like it at when I first heard it but it definetly grew on me....I just hope it doesn't become overplayed.

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thekillersobsession
07-13-2006

Rated 0 
wow, the song has just hit the radio and its already on here. that was fast. o and i love this song. it is amazing and i cant get enough of it. anyways, i agree with Wulfe87. it definitely sounds like that to me.

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zedzedBadnusty
07-14-2006

Rated +1 
omg eff hot fuss this is the sound of the killers, im lovin this song sounds like theyv dropped the disco in exchange for old rock anthem style, it all works weally weally well. I get the feeling that it seems like hes refering to innocence when he says 'when you were young' and 'he doesnt look a thing like jesus' is making a connection to the saviour boyfriend described in the song as being jesus-like in character but not looks sent to save a girl from her past relationships?

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angelemz
07-14-2006

Rated +1 
I'm sure it's pled forgiveness? Anyway I love it.

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ShotgunXXWedding
07-14-2006

Rated +1 
This song is pure genius. It's a beautiful anthem.

I think it's about a girl who's imagined a perfect boy 'when she was young'. She waits forever to find him, and she finally finds him, and he makes her a better person. Then the song later goes on to say "They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet/ You don't have to drink right now/ But you can dip your feet/ Every once in a little while" I interpret that as you don't have to be a perfect person, and it's okay to be bad every once in a while. I don't know...that's just what I think.

Lyndz

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1 Reply
ShotgunXXWedding
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
This song is pure genius. It's a beautiful anthem.

I think it's about a girl who's imagined a perfect boy 'when she was young'. She waits forever to find him, and she finally finds him, and he makes her a better person. Then the song later goes on to say "They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet/ You don't have to drink right now/ But you can dip your feet/ Every once in a little while" I interpret that as you don't have to be a perfect person, and it's okay to be bad every once in a while. I don't know...that's just what I think.

Lyndz

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ShotgunXXWedding
07-14-2006

Rated -1 
This song is pure genius. It's a beautiful anthem.

I think it's about a girl who's imagined a perfect boy 'when she was young'. She waits forever to find him, and she finally finds him, and he makes her a better person. Then the song later goes on to say "They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet/ You don't have to drink right now/ But you can dip your feet/ Every once in a little while" I interpret that as you don't have to be a perfect person, and it's okay to be bad every once in a while. I don't know...that's just what I think.

Lyndz

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ShotgunXXWedding
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
What the crap? I don't know how that posted three times...someone delete it!

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bloc_party15
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
Heard this on the radio yesterday, I quite like it, makes the new killers album look promising

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geniusNOTatWORK
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
I'm with ShotgunxxWedding, the song is about a girl who has dreamed up the perfect guy "when she was young." When she does meet him however, he doesn't look anything like perfection (or "Jesus" in this case, also, this is reminiscent of the "beautiful boy" line) but he still acts the way she pictured.

the part:
"They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet/ You don't have to drink right now/ But you can dip your feet/ Every once in a little while"
reflects back to the girl's past relationships that fell apart. The "devil's water" symbolizes some sort of lure that is in the wrong person or, to generalize it, it can symbolize a person's looks. The fact that it "ain't so sweet" means that someone that seemed perfect at the time due to some lure or his/her looks isn't as great as you thought he/she was. Flowers then suggests that you can dip into these type of people once in a while in order to filter through people to get to that perfect person you imagined when you were young. And Flowers concludes the song by repeating the chorus in an act to emphasize that the perfect person doesn't have to look like the perfection that you imagined

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1 Reply
killing_spree
07-16-2006

Rated 0 
I loveee ittt. =]

I'm guessing this song is meant by literally, when you were young you imagined the love of your life like this.

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clarkey
07-17-2006

Rated 0 
I am loving this song. Kinda lost the whole new wave synth sound (which I liked) and come out with a more alt rock anthem sound. More guitar driven, and I like that.

As for the meaning... i agree with geniusNOTatWork...

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idiotswind
07-17-2006

Rated 0 
In my opinion:

Girl wallowing in her pity from her stupid mistakes shes made throughout the years. Shes all wrapped up in all her idealism to go back to something pure like she thought of relationships when she was a young child.

This leads her into a relationship.. he isn't/doesn't look like a saint but fits her general profile as something good to make up for her bad decisions. They get really involved (climb this mountain, higher than ever before) - the higher you are the harder you fall. It spirals out of control even though it wasn't the intention (burning, hurricane imagery).

The devils water part represents temptation, lust, infidelity, what not. Shows the flaw of her logic... dipping your feet in once in awhile can't hurt right?? wrong.

Then it repeats the first part of the song more or less. Shows the cyclical nature of her relationships? She starts out with the purest, highest intentions that only a young girl could think were possible and it leads her into more heartache and disaster every time.

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idiotswind
07-17-2006

Rated 0 
Just to add to my meaning - you can sense the hard edged tone. About girls that have this waiting to be saved complex who don't want to grow up and get realistic. Get into relationships... overly involved with a naive lack of sensibility. Basically she needs to grow up and save herself not prop herself up temporarily with some nice guy. Always ends up in a self destructing mess probably hurting the guy pretty bad. (ie. He doesn't look a thing like Jesus But more than you'll ever know). He probably was a really good guy but she clings to this unattainable idea that is destined to destroy any relationship she enters and will never really know what she has lost.

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idiotswind
07-17-2006

Rated 0 
weak you can't edit posts. Anyhow the middle of the song is a key part - 'And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you Used to live' - when things get bad she goes back to that place of fantasy when she was young and compares it to her current situation.. leads to the temptations part and my post above.

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mandibgood
07-17-2006

Rated 0 
" Always ends up in a self destructing mess probably hurting the guy pretty bad. (ie. He doesn't look a thing like Jesus But more than you'll ever know). He probably was a really good guy but she clings to this unattainable idea that is destined to destroy any relationship she enters and will never really know what she has lost. "
idiotswind I hadn't thought of it like she lost him before but that does make sense, and also makes the song a lot sadder than I had taken it before.
I love the new sound and hope the rest of the album is as good/even better than this song.

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Jred7
07-18-2006

Rated 0 
First: the two lines "Can we climb this mountain...I know we can make it if we take it slow" Brandon used in an interview to describe the process of making this album. Not that it affects this songs meaning, but it should be taken into consideration, esp. since it may be a recurring theme in this mext album.

Also, i've always heard that the "devils water" is liquor. It could be her vice.

Maybe i am reading to much into this, but it seems that Brandon puts a lot of thought into his songs, esp. ones with religious themes in it. Pictures of Jesus often romantacise (sp?) as an attractive looking man, and to see this image of an atractive person, people associate it with the person he was and the good things he did. This guy, not looking like Jesus, Maybe even being unnatractive, but talking like a gentleman, represents how Christ really was; humble in appearance and spirit, and good hearted.

I guess its just a song about a girl who found a guy who will treat her right.

Sry for such a long post...

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Jred7
07-18-2006

Rated 0 
Oh yeah...this song, to me at least, sounds, or has the same feel, or whatever, as "All these things that I have done." another good religious song.

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ultradirrty
07-19-2006

Rated 0 
I hope they don't turn into some christian rock shit.

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mandibgood
07-19-2006

Rated 0 
I don't think 'christian rock shit' is what they're going for, but religion is a struggle for a lot of people like in All These Things That I've Done. And (I think) in this song Jesus is used as a common reference for a loving man. I don't think Brandon meant him as a religious leader of any type, just a good guy.
This guy who 'doesn't look a thing like Jesus' could not look like a kind guy (tattoo's and piercings by todays standards...) but he 'talks like a gentleman' which is what she thought about when she was young.

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nickallen
07-20-2006

Rated 0 
i know that devils water is some kind of alcohol, so i think hes talking about growing up? 'cause hes talking about the past, so i think it could be a girl growing up, and the stuff shes done. For the religious stuff, this could be to do with brandon being a mormon?

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idiotswind
07-20-2006

Rated 0 
By jesus he means savior. Shes looking for someone to save her and forgive her but shes willing to settle for less.

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Ingsoc
07-23-2006

Rated 0 
it seems to me that nickallen and idiotswind captured the feel of the song in their interpretations. i agree with them. a girl with the image of a ideal boyfriend (handsome, well-mannered and whatnot), meets a not necessarily attractive man who exhibits all the qualities of a nice fellow.

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shayness
07-24-2006

Rated 0 
I think that the person who's waiting for the man who doesn't look like Jesus could be either female or male... Come on, read the lyrics. Where does it say "she," "her," or any other words specifying female? You is the only pronoun referring to this person! It's fine that people think it's a girl but I think this song was intentionally written to be vague on the gender of this person.

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