Everybody's got a million questions
Everybody wants to know the score
What you went through
It's something you
Should be over now

Everybody wants to hear the secrets
That you never told a soul before
And it's not that strange
Because it wouldn't change
What happened anyhow

But you swore to yourself a long time ago
There were some things that people never needed to know
Guess there's one that you keep
That you bury so deep
No one can tear it out

And you can't talk about it
Because you're following a code of silence
You're never gonna to lose the anger
You just deal with it a different way

And you can't talk about it
And isn't that a kind of madness
To be living by a code of silence
When you've really got a lot to say

You don't want to lose a friendship
There's nothing that you have to hide
And a little dirt
Couldn't hurt no one anyway

And you still have a rage inside you
That you carry with a certain pride
In the only part of the broken heart
That you could ever save

But you've been through it once
You know how it ends
You don't see the point
Of going through it again
And this ain't the place
And this ain't the time
And neither's any other day

So you can't talk about it
Because you're following a code of silence
You're never gonna to lose the anger
You just deal with it a different way

So you can't talk about it
And isn't that a kind of madness
To be living by a code of silence
When you've really got a lot to say

I know you well enough to tell you've got your reasons
That's not the kind of code you're inclined to break
Some things unknown are best left alone forever
And if a vow is what it takes
Haven't you paid for your mistakes

After the moment passes
And the impulse disappears
You can still hold back
Because you don't crack very easily

It's a time honored resolution
Because the danger is always near
It's with you now
But that ain't how it was supposed to be

And it's hard to believe after all these years
That it still gives you pain and it still brings tears
And you feel like a fool
Because it's part of your rules
You've got a memory

But you can't talk about it
Because you're following a code of silence
You're never gonna to lose the anger
You just deal with it a different way

But you can't talk about it
And isn't that a kind of madness
To be living by a code of silence
When you've really got a lot to say


Lyrics submitted by fletch699, edited by TonyM101

Code of Silence Lyrics as written by Billy Joel

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Code Of Silence song meanings
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3 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    This is a simple, clear and direct song about something anyone can feel: a bad or harsh episode in laugh that you try to forget, to blot out, and pretend you have. But it's there and stays there for years. And it may well be smaller than you think in retrospect and over the passage of time. And simply talking about it to someone, voicing it out loud, helps resolve the problem and may demote it from 'horrific moment of my life' to 'a bad thing that happens to others too and it's gone now'.

    Wonderful lyrics, truly brilliant. This is far from a superstar/fame song.

    TonyM101on January 31, 2014   Link

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