The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Okay, fine
Even the sky looks like wine
And everywhere I turn there's
A new face in town
Stuck inside the well
Fresh Hells to attend to
Blue flower, blue flame
A woman by another name is not a woman
Don't know why
Don't know when
A cathedral sick of the sky again
Says to it
"Oh, please not now
Will you just look at the time
It's standing still!"
Somewhere applause falls dead on the hillside
Blue flower, blue flame
A woman by another name is not a woman
I'll tell you what I mean by that
Maybe not in seconds flat
Maybe not today
Blue flower, blue flame
A woman by another name is not a woman
I'll tell you what I mean by that
Maybe not in seconds flat
Maybe never
A gray ashen sadness rises like the sun, oh well
It was time I decided to try this hotel
Her world
Tulip has an inner animal
She's in it for a good time
I was on the outs for a while
But now things are all right
I gave you a flower because foxes travel light
And a penny for your thoughts was never enough
Your head gets filled with that stuff
Even the sky looks like wine
And everywhere I turn there's
A new face in town
Stuck inside the well
Fresh Hells to attend to
Blue flower, blue flame
A woman by another name is not a woman
Don't know why
Don't know when
A cathedral sick of the sky again
Says to it
"Oh, please not now
Will you just look at the time
It's standing still!"
Somewhere applause falls dead on the hillside
Blue flower, blue flame
A woman by another name is not a woman
I'll tell you what I mean by that
Maybe not in seconds flat
Maybe not today
Blue flower, blue flame
A woman by another name is not a woman
I'll tell you what I mean by that
Maybe not in seconds flat
Maybe never
A gray ashen sadness rises like the sun, oh well
It was time I decided to try this hotel
Her world
Tulip has an inner animal
She's in it for a good time
I was on the outs for a while
But now things are all right
I gave you a flower because foxes travel light
And a penny for your thoughts was never enough
Your head gets filled with that stuff
Lyrics submitted by The_Marble_Faun
Blue Flower/Blue Flame Lyrics as written by Daniel Bejar
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
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I'm grasping at straws here, just like with every other Destroyer song, but, I would assume that this song from the upcoming LP Trouble In Dreams is speaking of marital infidelity. Basically his wife is the "Blue Flower" and the woman he had the affair with is the Blue Flame", i.e. short term. Perhaps following that theme we could assume that the recurring line "a woman by another name is not a woman" is a statement to his wife that the affair meant nothing, that she is the only woman who means anything to him. Or maybe the first verse is leading up to the actual sex and the second; starting with the lines; "a gray ashen sadness rises like the sun, oh well, It was time I decided to try this hotel, her world.." the gray ashen sadness could be the guilt that he's feeling, but rationalizes this with the fatalist view of "oh well, it was gonna happen anyway". And finally, still following this idea, we could also assume that the speaker finally settles on staying with his wife, and ending the "Blue Flame" But then again, its pretty much impossible to figure out what Dan means..