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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finallyfree
08-16-2006

Rated 0 
my life story, tbh =[

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moomite
08-19-2006

Rated 0 
lol
OMG the video for this is amazing!!!!

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loadertoad
08-20-2006

Rated 0 
this song is horrible, the video is horrible, they try too hard to make it "epic" i liked their old songs much better. All these things that ive done kicks this songs ass

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Scottish_Lion
08-20-2006

Rated 0 
Could the "Devils Water" be a refrence to beer/alcohol? its fits with Bradon being a non-drinker.

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Scottish_Lion
08-20-2006

Rated 0 
Could the "Devils Water" be a refrence to beer/alcohol? its fits with Bradon being a non-drinker.

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angelemz
08-21-2006

Rated 0 
He is a drinker but yeah I see what you're saying about the alcohol.

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lucyb85
08-22-2006

Rated 0 
He's a Mormon isn't he? And they don't drink alcohol.

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ultradirrty
08-22-2006

Rated 0 
He is a mormon but so what? He still drinks and smokes! He's always drunk!

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stillwater
08-24-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is about a girl who had a rough childhood, and she isn't trying to stand up on her own and better herself, she's waiting on a hope that a man will come in and drastically change her life for the better --> "You sit there in your heartache Waiting on some beautiful boy To save you from your old ways"

"he doesnt look a thing like Jesus" meaning he doesn't look like what she expected her "savior" to look like, but he does treat her the way she expected this guy to. Maybe HE is the guy that is supposed to save her, and he wants to take it slow as to not screw this up, but her past which obviously effects how you act in the present is screwing up the relationship, the things that have burned her in the past are holding her back from him.--> "We're burning down the highway skyline On the back of a hurricane that started turning when you were young" im not so sure what the "devils water" actually is, maybe it's like she feels she is selling her soul to open up to him? and he thinks she doesnt have to jump right into it all at once, she can do it slowly "dip your feet". Sorry if this post is really long, i usually hate long posts myself.

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dunstable
08-25-2006

Rated 0 
Am definetly likin this song. sounds like your typical killers song but its still really good. dont think it will be overplayed same way as brightside was. different type of song. this is more of a love type song i think. for the killers.

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1stfallenangel
08-26-2006

Rated 0 
this is a bit less manic than their earlier stuff but i am liking the transition. love it.

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tragic_rose
08-26-2006

Rated 0 
i agree w/ geniusNOTatWORK back on page one...

and i LUV this song and the video...i love how the video's subjects arn't model beverly hills ppl but reg. homely folk...shows the human side.

look to me like the devil's water part is the most hardest to understand...but once again i'd have to go w/ genius...his goes w/ the song better...

the part about burning the highway skyline...i think it's talking about how they're distroying her chances of going to heavan cuz he's not "a saint." highway skyline i think is a ref. to heaven, and they're burning it.

yea...i luv the killers...and i luv this song..can't wait for the albume!

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C_Millionaire
08-29-2006

Rated 0 
anyone else think that the guitars sound a ton like those from miracle drug off how to dismantle an atomic bomb by U2? they sure do to me. and for me this song is about a girl who dreamed about her perfect guy when she was young, and when she finds him, he's nothing like what she expected, but he still is the perfect guy.

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Feriel
09-02-2006

Rated 0 
Well, I don't agree with most of the above interpretations. I think this song is jaded and cynical and written about an older woman whose been through a lot of past relationships - but definitely not been the victim ("to save you from your old ways"). The song begins with describing how she's searching for someone who she was involved with earlier (also an older man) and who she probably hurt in the past. I think him being the "savior" is because he assuages her guilt and hence she "plays forgiveness."

I think the second and third paragraphs describe a sexual discovery more than any kind of metaphysical connection or difficulties. She wonders if their sex will still be as good as when they were younger. And, it is.

The line calling her back to her youth "remember the place where you used to live" is another tie in with how she remembers innocence and purity within her soul.

The next paragraph clearly shows that the "devil's water" is infidelity and hence, "they" (society) say its incorrect, especially now that she's older. But she is tempted (as all human beings), and cheats on him yet again.

The conclusion of the song with the same verse as the beginning clearly shows the cyclical nature of this song. Everyone makes the same mistakes over and over. Everyone looks back at their youth and tries to recapture it, missing some lost innocence, naivete or purity. However, in the end, that's all it is - a memory "when you were young."

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bakismaki
09-04-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is about how people in general tend to wait for a "perfect," person to the one they marry and "settle down," with.

Eventually when that perfect person doesn't come around you accept someone who is far from perfect yet you still see in your head those imagined qualities in said person although they are nowhere to be found. It's almost like you fall in love with the person you imagined not the actual person.

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bakismaki
09-04-2006

Rated 0 
It's not a coincidence this song sounds alot like U2 stuff musically. It was produced by the same guy who did a lot of U2 stuff. Hence the edge like guitars.

Also if the lyrics sound bruce springsteenish as well especially this 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"

It's not a coincidence they, have said in interviews that this record is heavily influenced by springsteen and that they tried to emulate his lyrical style.

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bakismaki
09-04-2006

Rated 0 
Actually after hearing this song a few more times, I was slightly off in my original understanding of they lyrics. I now see it as being about someone finding the "perfect," person for them but the person that they have found is not all like the "savior," they imagined. The person is more flawed and human.

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bakismaki
09-04-2006

Rated 0 
I think when the song says the part about the devil's water it is a reference to real life in contrast to the romanticized notions in people's minds. The devil's water isn't as "sweet." In other words real life isn't as nice and perfect as the ideal world people tend to create in their heads. Also to state the obvious, The Devil is the opposite of Jesus.

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sever_lyricist
09-10-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with Bakismaki, and everyone who shares that interp. Pretty much got it.

&& to shayness... There are like..1239123810938 songs with "you" as the only reference to the person. But it's not like every one of them has some subtle, homosexual agenda. You are a douche for argueing that point.

I'm no homophobe, but yeah. Go back to Sanfransico.

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xxxbrokenxxx
09-10-2006

Rated 0 
to me this song is about a girl, who has made a lot of mistakes in the past, and feels broken in love, but she always dreams a guy will come to save her from her past. I think the chorus is a refernce to, when you are younger (like primary school) and you learn about God and Jesus, but you learn what the teacher want to to learn becasue you belive anything they say, and then when you are older you can make up your own mind on wether you belive it or not, when you know all the facts of life. Well this guy who comes to save her doesnt look like Jesus, in the sense of how he dresses, how he acts and what he does, but to her he is perfect and he is Jesus, as in he is her saviour, he saved her from her sins and made her life so much better. she is happy at where she is know, but she is still haunted by the past "And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you Used to live
When you were young" she can still remember all the bad things she has done, and it will never escape her, and she can never move on. i think the, devils water aint so sweet, part is about how being bad isnt always for the better and that this girl lost by being bad, and it has affected her life forever, like i said before it haunts her.
any way thats just what i think, maybe im reading to much in to this, sorry for such a long post :p

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xxxbrokenxxx
09-10-2006

Rated 0 
i would just lik to add that, i think "We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young" is somthing bad she started or did when she was young, but she can never escape it even though she regrets it now, and eventuly it will catch her up and sweep her away, like a hurricane, leaving no trace of the new life she has.

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cornylovesong
09-11-2006

Rated 0 
i love this FRIGGIN song!!!

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regan_89
09-15-2006

Rated 0 
I really like this song.. but I agree with what someone else said in that they tried too hard to make it epic. When their album was coming out they were quoted being quite arrogant about it and it put me off. They're too sure of themselves and their future success.
But anyway, as to the song..
I don't think "he doesn't look a thing like Jesus" is literally about his appearance.
Also.. he says "we" a couple of times..
"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"
Is he the beautiful boy?

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_ellie
09-16-2006

Rated 0 
Omg, I totally believe in its epicness. They are going for u2-esque stadium rock and they have my vote.

I like this. It's a reminder to girls like us who "sit there in your heartbreak/ waiting for some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways... like Jesus". And good call.

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Joshyg1
09-17-2006

Rated 0 
To me this song is saying that your saviour can come in many forms, and that they wont always look like you imagine them to (Or like Jesus)

To me it is saying that your design for life will never turn out that way, and you can always be pleasantly surprised by people

Maybe not though hehe

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