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.
Lily my one and only
I can hardly wait till I see her
Silly I know I'm silly
'Cause I'm hanging in this tree
In the hopes that she will catch a glimpse of me
And through her window shade
I watch her shadow move
I wonder if she
Lily my one and only
Love is in my heart and in your eyes
Will she or won't she want him
No one knows for sure
But an officer is knocking at my door
And through her window shade
I watch her shadow move
I wonder if she could only see me?
And when I'm with her I feel fine
If I could kiss her I wouldn't mind the time it took to find
My lily, my one and only
I can hardly wait till I see her
Oh lily, I know you love me
'Cause as they're draggin' me away
I swear I saw her raise her hand and wave (goodbye)
I can hardly wait till I see her
Silly I know I'm silly
'Cause I'm hanging in this tree
In the hopes that she will catch a glimpse of me
And through her window shade
I watch her shadow move
I wonder if she
Lily my one and only
Love is in my heart and in your eyes
Will she or won't she want him
No one knows for sure
But an officer is knocking at my door
And through her window shade
I watch her shadow move
I wonder if she could only see me?
And when I'm with her I feel fine
If I could kiss her I wouldn't mind the time it took to find
My lily, my one and only
I can hardly wait till I see her
Oh lily, I know you love me
'Cause as they're draggin' me away
I swear I saw her raise her hand and wave (goodbye)
Lyrics submitted by spitfirek7, edited by BIRDDUDE830
Lily (My One and Only) Lyrics as written by William Corgan
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
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.
didja know that if you subsitute "molly" for everytime he says "lily" it fits perfectly!? Has anyone else noticed that the smashing pumpkins say "one and only" in alot of thier songs? In "lily(my on and only", "By starlight", "Zero".........
Yeah I noticed that too. This might be a stretch, but when they say "one and only" in zero, he is referring his depression and how much he needs it. So maybe in "Lily" the song is about him "stalking" his depression because he wants it back so much? Then when the officer is "dragging him away" that represents someone saving him from his depression. IDK if anyone said that already, but I'm just throwing that out there that the whole album is all connected on an even deeper level than any of us can imagine.
@molly It's like RHCP using "California" lol