I saw you at the police station and it breaks my heart to say
Your eyes had wandered off to something distant, cold and grey
I guess you didn't see it coming
Someone's gotten used to slumming
Dreaming of the golden years
I see you had to change careers
Far away, but we both know it's somewhere

I saw you on the back page of some free press yesterday
The drift wood in your eyes said nothing short of love for pain
I know you from another picture
Of someone with the most convictions
We used to read the funny papers
Fooled around and pulled some capers
Not today, send a message to her
A message that I'm coming, coming to pursue her

Down your country I rest my face on your bed
I've got you ten times over, I'll chase you down 'til you're dead

I saw you on a TV station and it made me wanna pray
An empty shell of loveliness is now dusted with decay
What happened to the funny paper?
Smiling was your money maker
Someone oughta situate her
Find a way to educate her
All the way, time to come and find you
But you can't hide from me girl, so never mind what I do

Down your country I rest my face on your bed
I bet my sovereign country and I left it all for your head

I saw you in the church and there was no time to exchange
You were getting married and it felt so very strange
I guess I didn't see it coming
And now I guess it's me who's bumming
Dreaming of the golden years
You and I were mixing tears
Not today, not for me but someone
I never could get used to, so now I will refuse to

Down your country I rest my face on your bed
I bet my sovereign country and I left it all for your head
I got my best foot forward and I'll chase you down 'til you're dead


Lyrics submitted by aristuma21, edited by Kalico37

Police Station Lyrics as written by Anthony Kiedis Michael Balzary

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Police Station song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

14 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +5
    General Comment

    I thought it was kinda very straightforward. I imagined it was about someone loving someone who was lost and over the years seeing her get caught up in trouble over and over again. But then the protagonist kinda saves her and shows her what real love is but they drift apart. And finally one day she is getting married and she has her life cleaned up but the protagonist always felt that when she did find her way back it would lead her to him not to some other guy. The end is just kind of his vow that he will never let her go. Its a really amazing song.

    kheartson September 03, 2011   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
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
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.
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.