In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Close friend of mine as a child fell into a slumber
No sign of life since '75
Then one day he just, what do you know
I' guessing God just called his number
He called me up he called me up and said
"I've been awake about a week
I'm thinking about asking the doctor
If he could put me back to sleep"
Then he laughed and said
"Hey all the girls they look the same"
Don't they know just what their mothers
Paid in blood, and tears to change
But the words that made me cry
The thing he softly said
It stayed with me, it keeps messing with my head
He said, "If Jesus Christ is alive and well
And how come John and Elvis are dead?"
Youth, beautiful youth
We walked through the walls until we found the truth
And said "Change it, it's ugly just change it"
Everyone we used to know
Must have given up, so long ago
You can see it, it's written on their faces
And the inside of their clothes
But the words that made me cry
'Cause I knew just what they meant
He turned to me and said
"Hey boy, if Jesus Christ is alive and well
Then how come John and Elvis are dead?"
"Tell me if Jesus Christ is alive and well
Then how come Marvin and Elvis are dead?"
I said, if Jesus Christ is gonna save us from ourselves
Then, how come peace, love and Elvis are dead?
How come?
No sign of life since '75
Then one day he just, what do you know
I' guessing God just called his number
He called me up he called me up and said
"I've been awake about a week
I'm thinking about asking the doctor
If he could put me back to sleep"
Then he laughed and said
"Hey all the girls they look the same"
Don't they know just what their mothers
Paid in blood, and tears to change
But the words that made me cry
The thing he softly said
It stayed with me, it keeps messing with my head
He said, "If Jesus Christ is alive and well
And how come John and Elvis are dead?"
Youth, beautiful youth
We walked through the walls until we found the truth
And said "Change it, it's ugly just change it"
Everyone we used to know
Must have given up, so long ago
You can see it, it's written on their faces
And the inside of their clothes
But the words that made me cry
'Cause I knew just what they meant
He turned to me and said
"Hey boy, if Jesus Christ is alive and well
Then how come John and Elvis are dead?"
"Tell me if Jesus Christ is alive and well
Then how come Marvin and Elvis are dead?"
I said, if Jesus Christ is gonna save us from ourselves
Then, how come peace, love and Elvis are dead?
How come?
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I think this song represents everything that is meant to be good in life, and asks why some good things last forever and others don't; 'If Jesus Christ is alive and well, then how come John & Elvis are dead?'.
a poem based on a nice simple idea. well done
I think the friend in the first verse is obviously made-up, as if someone slipped into a coma in the 70's and had just woken up int e 2004 when it was written. bearing in mind michael writes a lot of material when completely stoned! The friend finds out John and elvis are dead....the women's movement appears to count for nothing as all the girls look the same....the lack to me is all about the lack of youth / pop culture in today's society, something micahel has plugged a few times
This page is missing alot of lyrics at the beginning of the song, it starts with "Close friend of mine" then something else then "fell into a slumber" then "no sign of life since 75" then it continues with "Then one day he just, what do you know" As for the meaning, i heard this song was about his relationship with Elton John but iunno if by relationship it meant just a friendship or a boyfriend cuz i can't find any proof that says they dated. Does anyone know?
This song is about George Michael’s existentially bereft, heart-piercingly sad reaction to a poignant question posed by someone with the ‘advantage’ of missed time & so starker perspective from which to notice the need for the (mostly rhetorical), question. And it’s not really even a question. It’s a forlorn observation that ‘Jesus’ isn’t, wasn’t ever, a real entity. Or, at least an entity anything like the one the world has been taught. There is no reason the close friend was niot an actual person held dear by a very young George & later reunited: there is no reason this close friend was not perhaps George himself, the slumber not being a physical one.
From George himself:
youtu.be/N4Mm9DzkZV8
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