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

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 222 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
bigmoe
09-20-2006

Rated 0 
The songs first two verses are identical to the final verses, giving the feeling of history repeating itself.

I think the interesting transition is from 'I know we can make it if we take it slow/Let's take it easy/easy now, watch it go' to 'We're buring down the highway...' Reminds me of how you always promise yourself the next time will be different, build the relationship from a solid base of friendship instead of physical attraction, putting off the sexual aspect of the relationship. But then the first chance you get, you go for the sex instead of the friendship, probably before either party is really ready for it. That's the burning down the highway on the back of a hurricane.

Then there is the reflection on the behavior, feeling guilty, thinking about your innocence when you were young. Then there is the need to justify the behavior. I think that is what the 'Devils Water' Verse is. Its the person convincing him/herself that its alright to compromize principles every now and then..

And finally, back we are back to where we started...downtrodden and looking for the next savior. And the cycle repeats itself...

just my take on it...

Log in to reply
tommyg
09-20-2006

Rated 0 
It's about a girl who is looking for a savior and the guys who are all too willing to take advantage of that. The last line is the most intriguing since it seems to imply that Jesus was just like those guys.
And yeah, it's basically just ripped off Springsteen lyrics set to ripped off U2 music. But it works.

Log in to reply
schoofchen
09-21-2006

Rated 0 
still waiting for mr right to love him till death ..

Log in to reply
lamb7
09-23-2006

Rated 0 
What an amazing song, can't stop playing it in my head.

In my opinion, the song is about picturing the love of your life to be...flawless. But then you grow up and you do fall in love...and the ONE turns out to be completely different. But you're so in love, that it's not relevant.

As for the Devil's water part, not all songs have to have everything fit together. It makes the song flow.

Log in to reply
Diana207
09-24-2006

Rated 0 
Ah. I love this song, and I wish more of my friends appreciated it. I've figured they dislike it for the reason that they are like the younger version of the girl he sings about. They are still so caught up in the idea of romance and, "soul mates" and the idea that one day their knights in shining armor will come and save them, like Jesus. They don't like to think that their silly fantasies are idealistic and unreal. I love this song because it's realistic.

Log in to reply
TommyCap77
09-24-2006

Rated 0 
I love this song, it's better than any Killers song before it, although I have yet to listen to "Bones".

Their performance single-handedly saved the VMAs from being a complete disaster. The ending to this song is breathtaking.

On a funny note, I always assumed this band was British until some guy told me they were from Vegas. Brandon Flowers has a British accent when he sings, or at least it sounds like he does.

Log in to reply
Zythe
09-29-2006

Rated 0 
All these Killers songs focus on 'beautiful boys', with lots of emphasis on "he"s and "him"s. I know he's married, but it's really hard to imagine Brandon Flowers is straight. He has such a fantastic voice.

Log in to reply
Anto112
09-30-2006

Rated 0 
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

This part describes a someone looking for mr Right to save them from lonliness. The part about looking like jesus refers to the way this man is the unlikely saviour to rescue them from a dark past. he talks like gentleman like all girls imagine when their young, that they will be whisked away by prince charming.

I just bought the new album and I have to say, It's different and anyone expecting more of the same will be disappointed. Its still got a massive sound and the songs are great but it will take some getting used to for some people.

Personally i love it

Log in to reply
heapsofhottness
09-30-2006

Rated 0 
The killers are clever there songs totally confusing tho...
have you seen the video?
i dont quite get it...im pretty sure its saying that the girl there talking about got cheated on tho... i dunno wat do u think?

Log in to reply
heapsofhottness
09-30-2006

Rated 0 
plus wats all this talk about brandon being gay or straight? hes married so it doesnt matter for now anyways exept to her and him i guess.. but yea gay straight watever! hes cute, and makes good music!

Log in to reply
thisparapet
10-01-2006

Rated 0 
I agree, I also thought they were British! haha
Anyone who prefers Hot Fuss to Sam's Town is a lunatic. Their new material is much more sophisticated and interesting than their old nonsense. I've just recently become a fan for the first time in my life!

Log in to reply
ashlea29
10-02-2006

Rated 0 
Havent read any of the comments but I see it as A girl who has fallen into a relationship where the guy cheats on her, but she has all these ideas of a perfect man and hopelessly romantic ideas so is blinded to this...

she finds out hes cheating but somehow keeps going back to her, and brandon in the song is speaking out to her trying to tell her that the guy is quite the opposite to her ideals - and is more so like the devil. (cheating, unloving) she knows its true, but needs the love - waiting on some beautiful boy to save you - watch it now here he comes...
- shes desperate and because of this has landed a relationship in which she is being betrayed

Log in to reply
turjake2
10-02-2006

Rated 0 
if you want to know what it is about watch the video clip.

Log in to reply
ShotgunXXWedding
10-02-2006

Rated 0 
does it really matter if the song is from a gay point of view or not? can't we just take it as how it applies to life, and what it truly means?

Log in to reply
Moo!
10-03-2006

Rated 0 
Well if he is gay or straight, the story is still the same. The video clip has a woman in it though, doesn't it?
It's a great song, I love the video clip! It really is over played here though! SUCK!

Log in to reply
lally123
10-03-2006

Rated 0 
i love how they always talk about 'the place where you used to live' on here and smile like you mean it. i think that goes back to a time when everything was safe and predictably good like a time of innocents. I love that the girl is waiting on some beautiful boy while in her heartache. I think it refers to how appearances can be decieving 'he dosen't look a thing like jesus' but he is similar to her dreams from when she was young. The video has confused my perception of the song however...

Log in to reply
psu80e
10-06-2006

Rated 0 
Does anyone else think that 'Jesus' actually refer to Jesus.

Deeply christian/catholic people are sometimes told that Jesus should be the only man in their life (like Nuns), if they ever mention men, the young girls will be told that its sinful to be even thinking about it (This does still happen).

Anyway the song finds her when she's losing her faith and she finds a man she likes that's good to her ('talks like a gentleman') but he's not Jesus who she was told to devote her life too and she's torn.

Her old ways are the devote times she spent that she doesn't really do or believe in any more.

Maybe the mountain she has to climb represents how difficult it is to go against your faith, although i have no idea what the hurricane is about.


The last two lines

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

To me this is her deciding that he doesn't look like Jesus and she's not strong enough to go against her faith; but he will be her saviour, she just doesn't know it.

Log in to reply
thinazapin
10-08-2006

Rated 0 
hey just a question: when i go to look up lyrics to most of these sam's town tracks, all the lyrics are completely wrong/different songs or something. does anyone else notice that? the ones i distictly remember are for the exitlude, my list, & this river is wild.

Log in to reply
PD Ub
10-09-2006

Rated 0 
It's difficult to keep things in perspective when the video creates more of a story. We must keep in mind that lyrics, like a poem or even a painting belong quite intensely to the person who gave them life, but the same goes for the video. Having watched the video of the making of the video, I know that the director wanted to shoot this kind of video long before he heard the lyrics to this song - so he already had preconceived ideas on location and subject matter and, not to do Flowers a disservice because I think these are great lyrics, the video provided much greater depth than Flowers probably intended.

Log in to reply
born to run
10-09-2006

Rated 0 
I've heard a lot of buzz that the new killers was going to be modeled after Springsteen, and to an extent it's true.

But it's nothing more than a cheap parody, and to all of you who are so impressed by the "epicness" and "deepness" of this song, go download the song Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and tell me which one's better.

If you still prefer the killer's aping the Boss' sound (and believe me, there are many instances in this song alone, both musically and lyrically), then I am afraid to say your taste in music is probably lacking.

Log in to reply
SpeakToME
10-10-2006

Rated 0 
I love reading everyones comment on what the song is about. I think it's cool how everyone interpt (sp?) one song so differently. But I have to say I'm tired of everyone reffering Brandon gay because he writes a song. So what just enjoy the song and forget about stupid things like that.
Oh and psu80e I never thought about that.

I guess I like thinking this song about when you're young you are carefree and you can easily fall in love. But as you get older you want to settle down and it's alot harder trying to find a guy they loves you for you. I love this song and sooooo glad The Killers made this album its awesome.
I also love how this album has a little 80's in it :)

Log in to reply
alexvega
10-11-2006

Rated 0 
i dont really listen to the radio much... i know this song has been out for a while but i just got around to downloading this album, this is deffinatly one of my favorite songs on it. To me this song is about a girl waiting for some guy to come and sweep her off her feet and start a new life where nothing she has done in the past matters... but the guy doesnt look like he can be her savior, but that she shouldnt judge the book by his cover.....

or whatever

Log in to reply
NewKillerStar
10-11-2006

Rated 0 
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

When I first heard this, the first thing that came to mind was that the character in the song is involved in prostitution - hence the the beautiful boy that she wishes would save her from her 'old ways.' I think ultimately though the general feeling conveyed is loss of inocence. But the prostitution element sprung to mind for some reason.

Log in to reply
polkadottedfame
10-12-2006

Rated 0 
i don't really care what this song means, the rift and vocals are awesome. finally, i think i've begun to appreciate the killers.

Log in to reply
polkadottedfame
10-12-2006

Rated 0 
and mr 'born to run' .. just because you are apparently obsessed with springsteen, doesn't make him better then the killers. open your minddddd.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here