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.
Desert loving in your eyes all the way
If I listen to your lies, would you say
I'm a man (a man) without conviction
I'm a man (a man) who doesn't know
How to sell (to sell) a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Didn't hear your wicked words every day
And you used to be so sweet, I heard you say
That my love (my love) was an addiction
When we cling (we cling), our love is strong
When you go (you go), you're gone forever
You string along, you string along
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Every day is like survival (survival)
You're my lover (my lover), not my rival
Every day is like survival (survival)
You're my lover (my lover), not my rival
I'm a man (a man) without conviction
I'm a man (a man) who doesn't know
How to sell (to sell) a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
If I listen to your lies, would you say
I'm a man (a man) without conviction
I'm a man (a man) who doesn't know
How to sell (to sell) a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Didn't hear your wicked words every day
And you used to be so sweet, I heard you say
That my love (my love) was an addiction
When we cling (we cling), our love is strong
When you go (you go), you're gone forever
You string along, you string along
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Every day is like survival (survival)
You're my lover (my lover), not my rival
Every day is like survival (survival)
You're my lover (my lover), not my rival
I'm a man (a man) without conviction
I'm a man (a man) who doesn't know
How to sell (to sell) a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green
Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit, edited by OthaFish
Karma Chameleon Lyrics as written by Jonathan Aubrey Moss George Alan O'dowd
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Boy George was in the band Culture Club. He is gay (you didn't know - gasps) and was having a secret affair with the drummer of the band. So the song is about that:
I listen to YOUR lies would YOU say I'm a MAN without conviction I'm a MAN who doesn't know How to sell a contradiction
Would YOU say that I'm a MAN....
The affair is secret so the lover is angry that he would be "outted".
He came and went - could not make up his mind = contradiction.
Love would be easy is you let your true colors shine through. The way you are with me (when they are together but also in his dreams). But your FEAR makes it very difficult. They fight (rival) over this.
I think green just happens to rhyme with dream... no importance.
you are right. Up until the red gold and green.The colors are important.Boy George was very fond of the Jamacan/African culture in England.Look at his style of dress and listen the beats to some of his songs.The colors were like his "dreams"symbolizes the acceptance and comfort that he felt within that black community.As opposed to the prudish European community."Lovin' would be easy" if Jon were apart of England's black community simply because of their then seemingly more liberal views.
UrJoking, THANK YOU. That's the only sensible SongMeaning I've seen for this song. :P
I saw the comments about the song being about a woman and nearly fell off my chair, by the way.
Anyway, apart from him being a scary dirty old man, Boy George is pretty fucking awesome.
her??? maybe i meant 'him'...wups
this song has been stuck in my head the past 4 days straight... i'm trying to figure it out by taking it in bits and pieces but when i put them together it doesnt make sense lol... im more interested in figuring out the color part... Loving would be easy if the colours were like my dreams Red, gold and green Red, gold and green i was listening to it in the car and i saw a traffic light... could this represent a traffic light comparison? like they stop and see each other than gradually date until theyre in a nonstop relationship? idk im grabbing for things...
I also don't know, but I think that, besides the Rastafari movement and Africa's Countries flags, the opinion about the traffic light is very good.<br /> <br /> Mainly if we consider the relationship history with the drummer of the band, that some people said here. To be in a homosexual relationship maybe it's very difficult because a lot of points: social prejudice, fear, doubt and something like (so it's or it's starts in "red").<br /> <br /> But if the relation grows or the two can overcome the difficulties, its turns to yellow and maybe to green.<br /> I think that's a good analogy.
in the 80's red gold and green were also colors used to express homosexuality. in addition to the already established Rastafarian movement. so that explains the lyrics loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams.
the song is about fear that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It's about trying to suck up to everybody like if you aren't true, if you don't act like you feel, then you get Karma-(justice), that's nature's way of paying you back."
Okay, submitted a typo - desert loving isn't the right lyric. My interpretation:
Is the loving in your eyes all the way? If I listened to your lies would you say I'm a man without conviction, I'm a man who doesn't know How to sell a contradiction? You come and go, You come and go
I always believed "come and go" is a play on words here - meaning that his partner is different in bed than when they're not sleeping together. Like as soon as they cum, he's out the door. The narrator's in a double bind because if he stands up for himself he can lose his lover, but if he doesn't, he feels like his lover doesn't respect him for going along with the lies and he might lose him anyway. He just can't win. What he's really wondering throughout this song is does his partner even want the relationship to work, and is it possible to fix things?
Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon You come and go you come and go Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams: Red Gold and Green, Red Gold and Green
I like the explanation someone else gave about Red Gold and Green being a symbol of political opinions (Rastafarian, etc) being a source of conflict. In many ways, the couple here just isn't right together. They have different values. As for karma chameleon, for some reason I think he used karma because it sounded good, but he probably meant "aura." Back in the 80s, a lot of the target audience wouldn't have known the difference anyway.
Didn't hear your wicked words every day And you used to be so sweet I heard you say that my love was an addiction When we cling our love is strong When you go you're gone forever You string along
George is coming to terms with his own denial of the change in the relationship. Again, the lover is sweet as anything until he's gotten what he wants, then he's consumed with bitterness, leaving and coming back over and over again. It's possible the lover is even having difficulty coming to terms with his homosexuality and taking it out on the narrator. So sweet as the lover used to be, George is starting to hear the wicked words and take them seriously as a problem.
Every Day is like survival You're my lover not my rival
This seems to indicate jealousy (possibly over George's greater fame?) but not just that, the feeling that the relationship is a struggle, the only thing that's working is the sex and the dawning realization that as much as he wants this to work, his lover just isn't open or honest enough for that to be possible. But he never quite makes up his mind in this song.
notthattartagain has the same interpretation that I had. "Come and go" is actually "cum and go" (screw and chew, so-to-speak). Jon Moss was using Boy George for sex, pretending to be his boyfriend, but he wasn't gay enough to commit (or just didn't like George enough), so he would string George along. When he was ready to ditch him (probably after receiving oral sex), he would start a fight, say some nasty words, and take off. <br /> <br /> Jon is a "chameleon" because when he's with women he acts straight, and when he's with gay men, he acts gay. He's basically a sociopath who does what he needs to in order to be the center of attention and get what he wants from people. Obviously, if you want to be featured in more videos, you'd want to be George's boyfriend and you'll probably end up with more camera time that way. You also get more attention in public if you show up next to George. <br /> <br /> If you've watched any of the programs ("Behind the Music" or whatever) about this band, the song is fairly easy to understand. I was shocked by all the people who didn't seem to understand that Boy George was gay. I mean, he's dressed as a drag queen in all of his videos. People in the 80's also didn't seem to notice that Freddie Mercury was gay, but when I saw the old concert footage of him running around the stage in those tiny white shorts and no shirt on, I really hadn't ever seen anything gayer (not even Boy George was as gay as THAT). It's amazing what people can believe if they bury their head in the sand deep enough.
Great song! I dont really know what it means, but 'desert loving' can be a reference to the movie "Priscilla Queen of the Desert"
@TheAntiPoser the movie did not come out until 11 years after the song though,
taking a stab here to actually find a meaning in this song other then just say that i love it and that it gets stuck in my head.... he's going out with some biach who doesnt give a damn about anyone else except herself, and he's trying his best to make her happy but she's so selfish she cant see how lucky she is to have him... Didn't hear your wicked words every day and you used to be so sweet
Every day is like survival You're my lover not my rival
karma= what u give comes back to you chameleon= a creature that changes colour to suit its surroundings maybe, she changes her personality to suit the type of ppl that she's with, i dont know about the karma bit... her karma changes with who shes with? i dont know! we need help on that bit! take that as u will
very catchy, boy george freaks me out though
kublip.. in reply to your question 'how can you not know what this song means?' well this is my answer.. be an idiot... like me.... so for all people like me 'idiots' tell me what YOU think it means, thanks :)