Hey, you, don't you give up
It's not so bad
There's still a chance for us

Hey, you, just be yourself
Don't be so shy
There's reasons why it's hard

Keep it together, you'll make it all right
Our celebration is going on tonight
Poets and prophets, what ending would we do'
This could be good, hey, you

Hey, you, open your heart
It's not so strange
You've got to change this time

Hey, you, remember this
None of it's real including the way you feel

Keep it together, you'll make it all right
Our celebration is going on tonight
Poets and prophets, what ending would we do'
This could be good, hey, you

Save your soul, little sister
Save your soul, little brother

Hey, you, save yourself
Don't rely on anyone else

First love yourself
Then you can love someone else
Then you can change someone else
Then you have saved someone else

But you must first love yourself
Then you can love someone else
Then you can change someone else
If you can change someone else
Then you have saved someone else
But you must first

Hey, you, there on the fence
You've got a choice
One day it will make sense

Hey, you, first love yourself
And if you can't
Try to love someone else

Keep it together, you'll make it alright
Our celebration is going on tonight
Poets and prophets, what ending would we do'
This could be good, hey you

First love yourself
Then you can love someone else
Then you can change someone else
Then you have saved someone else

But you must first love yourself
Then you can love someone else
Then you can change someone else
If you can change someone else
Then you have saved someone else
But you must first


Lyrics submitted by liltigermando

Hey You Lyrics as written by Geoffrey Williams

Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Fintage House Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Hey You song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

4 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think its not "Poets and prophets would end in what we do" but "Poets and prophets would envy what we do"

    freewayon June 24, 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
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.