You know, it says:

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

The line "You don't have to drink right now" makes me think that it means every person will drink the water eventually.

I don't know how this might fit in with what others have said but I thought I should point it out.

The alternate video was taped in Ottumwa, Iowa and it describes a couple falling in love at the Quincy Place Mall.

I was talking this part:
"We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young"

Like we're going full speed a head on this idea you have this ideal that has been forming and slowly building since your childhood.

To me, the line 'The devil's water' represents premarital sex (or maybe just sex)- something that is looked as a sin in many religions, then 'you don't have to drink right now but you can dip your feet every once in a while' becomes pretty easily explained.

I think that this song is about a girl dreaming of this guy or her 'Saviour' who she will fall in love with and he will love her back and they'll live happily ever after.
And she finds this guy, but he's not really the one, but he's good enough, 'he doesn't look a thing like Jesus [i.e he's not her saviour], but he talks like a gentleman.'
And at the end she just accepts him, 'he doesn't look a thing like Jesus/ But more that you'll ever know.

This song makes me sad because it reminds me of memories... I am in my final year at school an it just makes me think, it just related to how I feel about leaving all my school mates, climbing the mountain out there in the "real" world. Yet still being so young, and being reminded of being young and innocent and naive... this song makes me so sad!!!

This song makes me sad because it reminds me of memories... I am in my final year at school an it just makes me think, it just related to how I feel about leaving all my school mates, climbing the mountain out there in the "real" world. Yet still being so young, and being reminded of being young and innocent and naive... this song makes me so sad!!!

Why does she need to be saved? Why does she need Jesus? (As a metaphor, a saviour and is not meant as a statement on religion in anyway). If you look the only time the word “we” is used is in reference to “burning down the highway skyline” and such, which doesn’t seem like particularly saintly behaviour. And the narrator is ENCOURAGING her to drink the “devil’s water”!! She doesn’t have to, but it’s ok if she does.

I see the parts from the climbing of the mountain to said skyline burning as the build up and climax. She relaxes, opens herself up, there is some fight or breakdown or enlightenment or something massive. Makes progress. But she thinks of that place, her childhood… And then… nope. She gets scared, needs the security blanket, the comfort, the reassurance. If it was what she’d always wanted how could she give up on it? She goes back to him. The first stanza is repeated. Her being inwardly miserable in an acceptable way. A man who can “save” her from whatever haunts her. Her promised pretend perfection.

My favourite line in the whole thing is this “She plays forgiveness- watch it now here he comes”. It’s almost a personification of forgiveness. He IS forgiveness. And the use of the word “plays” indicates perhaps she’s trying to achieve or earn it. And this gentleman gives it to her. Another long and involved post. Any ideas? Comments?

this song speaks to me soo loudly because i can relate so well.

"you sit there in your heartache
waiting on some beautiful boy
to save you from your old ways
you play forgivness
watch it now-here he comes"

i've been dating this guy for 16 months and he treats me horrible, but im so afraid of losing him. of losing that relationship, and it seems like im waiting for something better. someone who treats me right.

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

recently one of my good friends told me that he has such strong feelings for me. and that he cant stop thinking about me. and i have the same feeling back. he's even helping me cope with my broken relationship, and it's becasue he really cares for me.
it's like he's my jesus, saving me from my bad relationship. and it's so true how this guy reminds me exactly of what i wanted when i was young.

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

it says "we're" here and i think that stands for me and my friend. it's like we both are burning down my past so "we"can build something between us. and the hurricane stands for all the anger i've built up from the relationship i'm in. and im using that to let go.

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

when i cry or am sad about whats happening in my life. i always think back to when i was young and ignorant. innocent. and i cherish those thoughts and want to be there again. but i cant. and thats why it's such a special verse. casue you cant go back. but you can remember. you were happy when you were young. you can be happy now.

"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 know the devils water is alchohol. and this is saying that i dont have to flush my life away becasue of what's happening. but sometimes you just have to do something "sinful" to just let your anger out. and it's ok to be angry and mad. when you have every right to be.

i dont know. this song means so much to me and i decided to break up with my bf. im not happy with him and this other guy makes me so happy. (dont get me wrong im not breaking up with my bf for another guy. im doing it for my own reasons.) but this guys is just how i imagined when i was young.

I've been listening to this song, and in the very begining on the track I've been listening, there is a really dark, sounded like an evil voice in the beining and then again right before he say "They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet", this is really messing with me, please respond if you hear this too and what u think its saying and is.

na its not an evil voice, u just ave a dodgy version from limewire, the evil voice says, 'K rock' which is a radio station if not mistaken. just download a better version

i think it means a persons opioun on love when they are younger...like everyone thinks of it beter than it is

My favorite line is "where burning down the highway skyline on the back of a hurricane"
I dont know what it means but it sounds awesome when he sings it. He has a good voice but I think the song would sound even more amazing of someone with a little more range sung it, or he put a little more soul into it and really emphasized it.

The Killers have a very different, yet the same, vibe going on. The music is so EMO, it's almost painful, but the singer has this whole Lou Reed/David Bowie thing going on that's really cool. I'm torn.

well...everyone said what i think of the song to mean...but i just wanted to say that i love this song and their whole new album(this is coming late, but i actually listened to it back in the fall!) it's way better then their first. i knew like 2 songs off the old one and i know all of the ones on this album!:P

can anyone tell me what the music video means? i do not get it all

it's a girl in the video, right? that's why you assume you=she, but yeah, it can as well be a guy.
anyway is the song - according to me - about not beeing too fastidious while searching for mr (or mrs) right.

I agree that the general story of the song is a woman meeting a man. I don't think he's perfect by any means, though. Pretty certain all the Christian imagery is just that: imagery that most people can identify with, or at least understand (Jesus as a saviour, etc). I think "he doesn't look a thing like Jesus" means that this guy isn't perfect, isn't divine, etc. He talks like a gentleman, he has his good traits, but at the end of the day he's just a normal guy with his flaws as well, like all of us.

As for the "Burning up the highway skyline..." bit, I always read it as the two literally driving down the highway, leaving wherever they were previously living because of the trouble/drama/danger caused by the mistakes of the woman's past, the "hurricane" following close behind them.

No clue on the "devil's water" bit, but I think it could refer to the darker realities of our life, and how we try to avoid them as long as possible. "You don't have to drink right now", but eventually you have to deal with it.

This is one of the most meaningful songs on their newest album. The song begins with "You sit there in your heartache/Waiting on some beautiful boy to/To save you from your old ways." He talks about what he considers to be a pitiful female individual who is hoping for a wonderwall of sorts...to steal a term from another artist. She's hoping for someone to make her a better person, a man.

He goes on to describe the boy she finds; not looking like "Jesus" or the savior she envisioned on the outside, but he "talks like a gentleman" which means he's essentially living up to the hopes and dreams of the girl when she was younger.

He then begins describing the evolution of their relationship. He takes the point of view of the girl, who is on top of the "mountain" and "higher now than ever before." The girl believes that the relationship can last forever if they take it slow, but that is not how things turn about. The tempo of the song increases and implies that this "hurricane" is a very sexual string of events, something that likely was also imagined by the girl, when she was younger, such as a teenager. Relationships that get too overly sexual tend to be on the road to disaster.

The song then says that the girl imagines "the place where she used to live." This does not mean that she sees the house, it means that she sees where her life has taken her so far, and how she got to where she is. At this point the relationship is beginning to become a regret of the girl. Too sexual, she may think. She may be wondering if this is the man of her dreams, the man she is to marry, after all.

Just then the song bursts into narration, talking about the "devil's water" as perhaps the holy water used in weddings. He gives the advice that the married life isn't so sweet; it's not a walk in the park. Drinking the holy water essentially proves the lifelong commitment, but he uses the action of "dipping your feet in" as a way for the girl to test men, seeing if they are in fact, the one she wants to drink the "devil's water" with.

I bought Sams Town the day it was released in the UK, on first listening to it, first opinion was I didn't like it... although like most albums you have to persevere, which I did, and this album definatly tops Hot Fuss. 'When you were young' is a top driving song, banging away on the steering wheel, with the window down!!

my interpretation of this song, is that a most girls, myself included since being small build this perfect man in their head, the perfect life, and perfect wedding day, and of course in reality he will never live up to that picture you have in your head , we put the "perfect Man" on a pedestal and realise we have to settle as this doesn't exist. as we grow up we make mistakes along the way, and when we 'think' we will meet this perfect... 'Jesus comparison' we may not be perfect either, we will fall along the way, we get disapointed but we get by!!

haha i talk rubbish!!!

I think the "devils water" part... It makes so much more sense if you talk it instead of singing it... His mother may have taught that drinking is a bad think because of his dad's alchol addiction, but it's ok to drink every now and then...

The first verse as well if you imagine a girl who gets about a bit and her boyfreind splits up with her but really she loved him, she's sitting there in her heart ache waiting for another boy to change her oldways.

I have a very different perspective to the jesus meaning as I think the last verse is the twist to the whole song...flower's signature of being very knowledgeable about religion.

doesnt look a thing like jesus could very mean the negative side of Jesus being a false prophet being that nowsadays, ppl see jesus (who could be a man) being idolised (or brought up since young) to envisage as the perfect man. Its no secret that no one even jesus should have an image if he is supposingly to be the son of god.

"but more than you'll ever know" if given the jewish perspective makes complete sense. I think flowers is pro jew and knows the scripture very well. jesus to the jews was never the messiah hence, the man is more than jesus demoting jesus to lesser than a man. Im sori but thats wat the lyrics mean or else flowers wouldnt say "MORE THAN" you'll ever know.

This is reiteriated in "BUT he talks like a gentlemen" meaning jesus is not a gentlemen. again a...liar?
This is definitely not pro christian and if anybody wants to start theological or scriptural but go read up more first cos flowers is deeper than you thing..


Thats why if you notice, at the end he keeps repeating the line, "he doesnt look a thing like jesus"

Its the crux of the whole song...of being when you were young where before "religion" came into play and idolisation of a "perfect man" starts to seduce...

flowers is defo not even your above average songwriter.

I think the woman is a victim of herself because she strives for an ideal man who doesn’t exist, and yet is less than perfect herself. It appears that she has probably had other affairs ( “you play forgiveness”) and largely got away with it as she seems to do it habitually.

The singer is the one who is saying that he isn’t perfect (“he doesn’t look a thing like Jesus”) using the third person to express this which makes it slightly humorous. He is saying that he is not quite the ideal of what she craved for when she was young and is offering himself to her (“Watch it now… here he comes!”). He also appears to have a history with this woman (“can we climb this mountain/I don’t know/ higher now than ever before”).

The stormy analogies regarding “burning up the highway skyline” and the “hurricane” denote that her relationships have likely been destructive or firey from the beginning. Perhaps she craves for the old days (her youth) when perhaps things were a bit more straightforward.

I think the verse of the devil’s water is in relation to himself – being yet another temptation. It seems that he is saying that she doesn’t have to hurry things with him – in fact – he’s almost saying that being with him “every once in a while” will be enough for him for now.

I think he knows her faults and understands his own imperfections but believes he is the right one for her if she can stop looking for the ideal man. He’s prepared to take it slowly in the interim but he craves the fire and excitement of being with her.

Wow I love this song.. I dont care what its about I just love it!

Wonderful song... Here's my interpretation of it, like it? -cool, don't like it? -well cool also it's a free country ;) no one is wrong in interpreting a song.

PLUS this is my first real interpretation as it is in text, and we all interpret in our heads ;P


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!

Not saying this girl is either perfect or has such a horrible past. She's been dumped and took it hard, the "old ways" is: (again in my opinion), her ways of choosing the wrong guy all the time. Which leads on to "watch it now here he comes" her forgivenes is that here comes the guy that's gonna save her and eventhough she can feel he's the same typ as all the past she wants good in him...


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

He's goodlookin' but he aint no Jesus, there's nothing saying Jesus is the greatest looking guy in the world, kindest maybe? But for good looks, hell I think satan would win the contest call it a gut feeling (Keep in mind I haven't seen neither Satan nor Jesus). And to me it is more that she likes to paint a picture of how a guy should be and from that picture she forms him into this in her eyes "Infallible" character he (later) won't be able to live up to. He's simply a smooth talker, he knows what to say, all girls know what a guy should say in different moment, and some guys know and do say this, hell, he's a player :P


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

This is to me her first steps into the relationship, cuz she knows she's walking into fire and one you catch, it's gonna go fast.. which leads to:


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

This is where they fall in love. Yeah, the "player" also falls for her as much. When falling in love with eachother, not only that but with "the One!" We'll if that isn't "burning up the highway skyline" and being invincible... i simply don't know what is. It's every thing you can and have dreamt of "when you were young"


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

This part of "when you were young" doesn't have the same meaning to me, it's more that no matter how much this guy wants to change his ways for her, the past catches up with you... and she can feel this happening... their grip will loosen.

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

The Devil is a well know symbol of temptations, and the guy starts dipping his mind into them, but it's no simple task to just dip when the currents are strong. Suddenly you get pulled in and he makes a final mistake.. being unfaithful. Fire is and will always be an attractive thing until you get burned by it. But eventhough we all know this, history in all mankind repeats itself.


"you sit there" to "when you were young"

we'll this part is mostly her sitting feeling sorry for herself for making the mistake of opening her heart once again knowing from the start what was to happen, and sad to say the last part is the BEST in the song.

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"

This guy truly and deeply loved her, even while making the great mistake of being with another woman. And eventhough he kept on living his old life after she left him from back when "you were young". He never really found love like the one he had the her "the one". "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus", but face it, not even Jesus could live up to the ideals that mankind has made of him, many like to forget the part that what differed jesus from god was god being infallible, Jesus was half man! And mankind.. just ain't. So eventhough being unfaithful was a great mistake it made him imperfect and in her eyes less of Jesus. Not the Ideal of what she painted him up to be. "but more than you'll ever know"