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.
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that your saving
Will always be yours
Kill the President
Listen to the voice of reason
Unify with that single line
Stop the man with the power
Of the government
A leader's not the center
Of democracy
In a world without leaders
Who'd make people starve?
The world that we're saving
Will always be ours
Everyone says
Well maybe I'll make a difference
Thinking they've got plenty of time
But you're squeezed
A little tighter everyday
Finished before you can commit a crime
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that your saving
Will always be yours
Kill the President
Listen to the voice of reason
Unify with that single line
Stop the man with the power
Of the government
A leader's not the center
Of democracy
America
All of your enemies
Come from within
But you lash out so
It is seen
Like some frightened child
In an angry world
Or the fall of Rome
Your demise comes
From your own hands
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that your saving
Will always be yours
In a world without leaders
We might have a chance
But we'll never see it
As long as there's
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that your saving
Will always be yours
Kill the President
Listen to the voice of reason
Unify with that single line
Stop the man with the power
Of the government
A leader's not the center
Of democracy
In a world without leaders
Who'd make people starve?
The world that we're saving
Will always be ours
Everyone says
Well maybe I'll make a difference
Thinking they've got plenty of time
But you're squeezed
A little tighter everyday
Finished before you can commit a crime
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that your saving
Will always be yours
Kill the President
Listen to the voice of reason
Unify with that single line
Stop the man with the power
Of the government
A leader's not the center
Of democracy
America
All of your enemies
Come from within
But you lash out so
It is seen
Like some frightened child
In an angry world
Or the fall of Rome
Your demise comes
From your own hands
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that your saving
Will always be yours
In a world without leaders
We might have a chance
But we'll never see it
As long as there's
Lyrics submitted by FearAndLoathing
Kill the President Lyrics as written by Bryan Holland
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
It's making fun of anarchists, and anyone who has that "Kill the President!" attitude. Because in a world without leaders, there would be even more chaos and violence.
freewebs.com/thejakesite
No, moron metal fan, it is about the fallacies of anarchy.
Besides, true anarchy will never exist, because there will always be a governing body. Even anarchists want to organize some form of control. That's all anarchy really is, replacing one form of control with another.
The label made them take it off, not the government. There's no freedom of speech violation.
Anyway, I do believe this was a more sarcastic statement of the specious reasoning of anarchists, not an invitation to kill the president.
Yeah, I think you nailed it. It's a satire on the fallibility of anarchist theory. It's subtle, but there are clues. For example, it references Rome, and don't forget Julius Caesar was assassinated. I'm not for sure that the reference was intended, but there it is.
On another note, does anyone find the line "punished before you commit a crime" a bit ironic now that this song has been taken off the CD even though no violence has happened as a result of it?
It could be a slam against the USA as being the hegemon of the world. If anybody subscribes to the hegemonic stability theory of international politics, then one power maintains the security of the world. The United States surely fits that bill.
it's not about literally killing the president, but it is an attack on how shitty the us government is.
i love the way this song was written absolute yonks ago, the album came out in 1989, but the song couldve been written b4 it, yet still the song can be thought of as one of the new "anti america"songs when really its always been there, kinda makes u feel sad tht nothing over there has changed for the better over all these years
Anti Ronald Reagan, I guess.
What magicmanx9 said.
I love it how anything political sounding gets an army of people coming on and saying, yeah, fuck the government!
Primero que todo, el anarquismo no piensa reemplazar una forma de control con otra, es el comunismo mraxista el que propone una dictadura del proletariado. lean de anqruismo primero; a prouhdon, a bakunin, a kropotkin, etc, antes de hacer tales juicios, y lean de coperativismo, pendejos. por otro lado la cancionen el contexto en que fue escrita no puede pensarse en un ataque contra bush ni nada, simplemente deja ver ese HP imperialismo gringo encarnado enla figura de su presidente, sea quien sea.