From where I stand
I can see through you
From where you're sitting, pretty one
I know it got to you

I see the stars in your eyes
You want the truth, but you need the lies
Like Judy Garland, like Valentino
You give your life for rock n' roll
Uh huh

Stand, we're on a landslide of love
You got everything you want
But what you need you give away

For primitive love
And a ride on the mystery train
A primitive love
A room at the Heart
The Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak
Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak
Heartbreak Hotel

You say it's love, it's not the money
You let them suck your life out like honey
Turning tricks, you're on the street
Selling your kisses so bittersweet

My life yeah
Oh, yeah yeah
I wanna love
Did he bed again?
I gotta know
Oh the price
Is too hard to pay

A primitive love
A and a ride on the mystery train
A primitive love
A room at the Heart
The Heartbreak Hotel

A room at the Heartbreak, the Heartbreak
The Heartbreak Hotel, Hotel
[Repeat until end]


Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by santiago2u

A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel Lyrics as written by Dave Evans Adam Clayton

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

6 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is about U2's fascination with Elvis Presley & his themes of love & lust.

    benorianon March 30, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hm... i thought the song was about a hooker.

    lydjiaon July 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I thought it was about a hooker too. Heartbreak Hotel = Brothel. Anyway, this song is great, i like the choir singing at the end.

    coolchrison August 04, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I absolutely love this song. It's just so full of soul and it really shows off Bono's incredible vocal talent. Like everyone else, I think it's about a prostitute, but I also think it has a deeper meaning than just that the same way most other U2 songs do.

    I think it's about a woman who mistakes sex for love. She associates the attention she recieves for her services as a sort of love because clearly it's all she's ever known. I think the underlying story is that the main character of the story is in love with her, but as the line goes: "You've got everything you want but what you need you give away" meaning she actually has real love in the form of this man (the lyricist) but she doesn't really see it or understand it because she thinks love just comes with her profession.

    The lyricist is basically saying that she gives up every chance she gets at something meaningful and true for a primitive love (lust) and a ride on the mystery train* and she's headed for heartbreak because she's too naive to differentiate between real love and lust.

    eirenightshadeon December 31, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "I think this song is about U2's fascination with Elvis Presley & his themes of love & lust."

    I agree w/ this statement. I'm not sure where I heard that from but it sounds like the song is more of a fascination with a public figure than with an ordinary encounter or meeting with a prostitute.

    Its obvious to me that a prostitute does know the difference between lust and real love. They do not choose to be prostitutes, they become one out of unfortunate circumstances.

    So it wouldn't make much sense to say this song is U2's take on a prostitute. Bono's lyrics are almost always to be taken symbolicly.

    GrungyBeatleon September 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I had always understood it to be about Elvis Presley, Could the lyrics it be from the POV of someone talking to Elvis, maybe Priscilla?

    This song is a b-side on Angel Of Harlem, which has a picture of Billy Holiday (the Angel of Harlem) on the back of the 7", 12" and CD-single sleeves. I seem to remember Elvis' picture also included on the 12" somewhere, maybe the disc label?

    rager1969on March 01, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.