Lyrics for After Hours as interpreted by capitol76

After Hours Lyrics
1-2-3
If you close the door, the night could last forever
Keep the sunshine out and say hello to never
All the people are dancing and they're havin such fun
I wish it could happen to me
but if you close the door, I'd never have to see the day again.

If you close the door, the night could last forever,
Leave the wineglass out and drink a toast to never
Oh, someday I know someone will look into my eyes
and say hello -- you're my very special one--
but if you close the door, I'd never have to see the day again.

Dark cloudy bars
Shiny Cadillac cars
and the people on subways and trains
Looking gray in the rain
As they stand disarrayed And if you close the door, the night could last forever.
Leave the sunshine out and say hello to never
all the people are dancing and they're having such fun
I wish it could happen to me
'Cause if you close the door, I'd never have to see the day again.
I'd never have to see the day again.
(once more)
I'd never have to see the day again.


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KILBY
03-11-2003

Rated 0 
It's about isolation and being by yourself while everyone else is having fun and hoping someday you could be having that fun someday and you will find that person that makes you complete.

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swallowedthefly
07-02-2004

Rated 0 
she's already found that person. the party is still going on, he walked her to her room. she invited him in and asked her to close the door, but he won't. if he stays, they'll be together forever in the night and she won't have to deal with the daylight anymore. but she knows he won't stay.

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1 Reply
keyboard
12-23-2004

Rated 0 
i'd have to agree with kilby, i translate it as isolation, and waiting to find that person.

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honeyinmyhips
01-31-2005

Rated 0 
It's about an after hours place, as in a bar that let's people stay after closing hour to party into the morning. If you close the door to the bar you can stay as long as you want after the bar has closed.

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venus in furs 28
02-09-2005

Rated 0 
she sounds so sad, jaded even, by the situation whatever situation that may be that she just wants to fall in love with someone like she sees people arond her, maybe even a one night stand where she can just pretend its love.

i've always wanted somebody as in somebody very special to me to say "Hello -- you're my very special one".

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xsilium
03-09-2005

Rated 0 
I love this song. To me, though, it’s kind of sad. I think this song is a woman’s proposition to someone to come inside for a one night stand coupled with a suicide. She wants them to close the door and “drink a toast to never,” which basically means drink poison and “say hello to never.” Then “the night could last forever,” meaning that they would sleep together forever. When she says that she knows that one day someone will tell her “you’re my very special one,” I think she could be talking about God. I'm not sure, though. Its just a thought I had.

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lost_in_twlight
04-16-2005

Rated 0 
oh, can't get enough of this song....and i don't want to sound ignorant...'cos i love this band and don't think i'm totally ignorant, but does Nico sing this one? i just can't be sure.

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lou_reed
07-17-2005

Rated 0 
lost_in_twilight, this song is sung by Maureen "Moe" Tucker, the percusianist in the VU. She also does co-vocals with Yule on the murder mystery on the same album.

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lost_in_twlight
01-07-2006

Rated 0 
thanks for the info, lou....
i knew she was the drummer,
but had no idea she had such a great vioce

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sabertoothedbliss
06-02-2006

Rated 0 
this song makes me think of the great gatsby and the parties that gatsby threw. i actually plan to incorporate this song into a powerpoint about fitzgerald.

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reidbottorff
06-21-2006

Rated 0 
^That 's what I always thought, but I just never had a reason to express that idea to anybody.

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jessxjess
08-18-2006

Rated 0 
This is an amazing song. Its a song that expresses what any normal person is looking for...love.
The door is like a heart, and when you close it for somebody your heart is theres.

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daytripper177
08-23-2006

Rated 0 
I love this song, can't get it out of my head. It’s relatable and sounds so honest. And I love Maureen's voice; to me it’s so pure, feminine and engaging.
"I wish it could happen to me"

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hoitsmith
09-13-2006

Rated 0 
this song to me, is about never having to face the grim realities of life again, i think lou reed is taking the piss when he wrote(not sang) the line about someone looking into their eyes... hed rather drink and live in seclusion, than face the outside world, this is clearly a delicate matter for him, as he said tht he could never sing a song as innocent as that, moe tucker has a lovely voice

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rubicube
09-26-2006

Rated 0 
"If you close the door, the night could last forever"
if you shut me out of your life, i don't think i can fall asleep
"but if you close the door, I'd never have to see the day again."
you can let me die, no more pain

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John_Cale
10-09-2006

Rated 0 
The song is about After Hours bars of which there are plenty in New York City. It's about the other world that exists there where you don't have to face the reality of what's outside so long as you keep the door closed (in realty and metaphorically). It's not about any particular romance or whatever it's just about the kind of people who hang around bars at 3-4 am when everyone decent is asleep. Everyone looks good in the dark. For a good perspective on this song listen to the Maxs Kansas City album where Reed sings it, especially the final verse. If you want to view it in a wider context its about anyone who doesn't want to race the reality of something (in Reed's case the band was breaking up when Maxs was recorded) and hides away from it.

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mudshark66
10-21-2006

Rated 0 
Best explanation I've heard is that the song is about "loneliness, alcoholism or suicide...or all three."

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hash14ultimate
12-01-2006

Rated 0 
this song makes me think of virginity. the narrator wants to see what it's like ("all the people are dancing and they're having such fun"), hope it will happen to her ("i wish it could happen to me").

losing virginity a toast to never (never be a virgin again). it sounds like she's about 14 years old or something and very curious. she figures that experiencing sex now will not lessen the effect of when, someday, she finds someone that she actually loves (Oh, someday I know someone will look into my eyes; and say hello -- you're my very special one--").

And finally, day symbolizes purity, clarity and goodness. the night (that could last forever) symbolizes vice/sin ie. sexual "immorality" - once the day ends, it's night forever.

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bartdome
03-10-2007

Rated 0 
Knowing you don't belong in a place, and are unable to express yourself without inhibitions ("all the people are dancing and they're having such fun/i wish it could happen to me")

It's about suicide, "drink a toast to never" probably implies taking pills with a glass of wine, and "closing the door"

Sorry if i've depressed anyone!

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billyhc
03-18-2007

Rated 0 
This has always played as a bedroom scene to me until honey said "after hours bar" and suddenly the picture being painted clicked into place. Either way, it's the same kind of intimacy yr after--keeping the rest of the world outside and feeling like you could someday be someone's very special one. It's nice how the lyric switches from "but" to "and" to "cause." It's as if the idea is manifesting itself into reality throughout the song. She's willing the door to be closed. And the people look well in the dark.

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toomanyhumans
04-08-2007

Rated 0 
i think this song is about suicide and loneliness.
'If you close the door, the night could last forever'
(if you kill yourself, youll be dead forever)
Keep the sunshine out
(being alone from everyone 'sunshine')
'Say hello to never'
(nothing when your dead)
All the people are dancing and they're havin such fun
I wish it could happen to me
(envying other people lives)
but if you close the door, I'd never have to see the day again.
(if you kill yourself, youll never live again)
or this song could be about sex.
self explanatory- 'if you close the door, the night could last forever)

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AladdinInsane
06-14-2007

Rated 0 
"Dark cloudy bars
Shiny Cadillac cars
and the people on subways and trains
Looking gray in the rain
As they stand disarrayed And if you close the door, the night could last forever.
Leave the sunshine out and say hello to never.."


GAH!
its MEANT to be "dark PARTY bars" and.."Looking gray in the rain,
As they stand disarrayed,
oh but people look well in the dark..."
[CHORUS]
pishhh!

most beautiful song though...i love moes voice!

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contortionist
07-11-2007

Rated 0 
one of my favorite songs ever! I think the song meaning is pretty self explanatory so I won't get into it cause everyone else pretty much hit it head on, but yea great song!

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contortionist
07-11-2007

Rated 0 
one of my favorite songs ever! I think the song meaning is pretty self explanatory so I won't get into it cause everyone else pretty much hit it head on, but yea great song!

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scatter_brain
07-13-2007

Rated 0 
this is the best song ever written that begins with A.

it actually reminds me a lot of "no surprises" by radiohead. they're kinda both about despair and longing, but with a bit of endearing kind of purity about it. she sounds so cute and innocent, it really is a beautiful song.

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