Oh, a, oh
Oh, a, oh
I heard you on the wireless back in fifty two
Lying awake intent at tuning in on you
If I was young it didn't stop you coming through
Oh, a, oh
They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you can see
Oh, a, oh
I met your children
Oh a oh
What did you tell them?
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Pictures came and broke your heart
Oh, a, a, a, oh
And now we meet in an abandoned studio (ohh)
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago
And you remember the jingles used to go (ahh)
Oh, a, oh
You were the first one
Oh, a, oh
You were the last one
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind we've gone too far
Oh, a, a, a, oh
Oh, a, a, a, oh
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind we've gone too far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put the blame on VCR
You are a radio star (oh, a, oh)
You are a radio star (oh, a, oh)
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
(You are a radio star) video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
(You are a radio star) video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
(You are a radio star) video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Oh, a, oh
I heard you on the wireless back in fifty two
Lying awake intent at tuning in on you
If I was young it didn't stop you coming through
Oh, a, oh
They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you can see
Oh, a, oh
I met your children
Oh a oh
What did you tell them?
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Pictures came and broke your heart
Oh, a, a, a, oh
And now we meet in an abandoned studio (ohh)
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago
And you remember the jingles used to go (ahh)
Oh, a, oh
You were the first one
Oh, a, oh
You were the last one
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind we've gone too far
Oh, a, a, a, oh
Oh, a, a, a, oh
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind we've gone too far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put the blame on VCR
You are a radio star (oh, a, oh)
You are a radio star (oh, a, oh)
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
(You are a radio star) video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
(You are a radio star) video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
(You are a radio star) video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21
Video Killed the Radio Star Lyrics as written by Trevor Charles Horn Geoffrey Downes
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The guys who wrote this song would have been old enough to have been little boys when radios shows died out and TV took over.
It is a supreme irony that this song was the first song played on MTV
BTW: VTR stands for Video Tape Recorder
the part of the song that particularly sticks out for me is "rewritten by machine a new technology"......artists these days dont even write thier own music or play their own instruments....they let machines do everything and it takes the heart out of all the music. its really sad. people worship shit these days........we neeed to start listening to good music like this again.
The part at the end of the song that goes "You are a radio star" in my opinion represents that opera singer.
The male vocals would be the listener of the radio
The female vocals represent the future of televison and is more flashier.
The male vocals are also very simple and sounds like it has too much treble while the female vocals are clear and have a more pop sound.
This songs is one of my favorites and is one of those songs that has always touched me.
Elstree which is one of the songs on the same album "living in the plastic age" has a wonderful line that ties into this song. "Life is not what it use to be."
It's a very bittersweet song that is nostalgic and sad.
As for the song itself, as many have said above, it is about how the new form of videos were changing the music scene. T the time of the song's release, 1979, videos were looked upon as just a fad. Many older performers refused to submit to the new format, Bruce Springstien being one, because they thought it would diminish their artistic integrity. I also think that the song reflects the changing technology that many people feared. Computer games were begining to be the rage and home computers were beginning to be household words. I think this song reflects all of that.
What about 'I met your children/What did you tell them?' and 'In my mind and in my car'? Specially when relating those to the title? Is this just a love story or is there some deeper meaning?
Maybe the gist is: a guy meets a diving-into-oblivion radio star he worshiped when younger and they have an affair. But still this explains very little, being only a over-viewing outline.
Radio Star = Edwin Howard Armstrong, inventor of FM radio.
RCA controlled AM radio and would not support FM radio. RCA claimed to invent FM radio, preventing others from developing and used resources to finance television, not FM radio stations.
Armstrong committed suicide in 1954 frustrated, broke and beaten down fighting RCA over legal rights to FM radio. The president of RCA was quoted as saying "I didn't kill Armstrong" or some words meaning the same.
At least that's what I've always understood the song to be about.
Look it up. It's obviously not about music videos. The song was written before MTV existed.
Rewritten by machine on new technology,
And now I understand the problems you can see." Quite simply they are pointing out that the digital age was coming in and doing away with the analog dialect. In this line "And now we meet in an abandoned studio.
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago." In this context the abandoned studio would be an outdated media player e.g. an 8 track or a vinyl record and it seems so long ago would refer to it sounding vindicated. much like watching a movie on a VCR after years of blue-ray and yet to this day how many of you, of us, still have a stack of LP's? the point of this song is simple, it is pointing out what we see everyday without even noticing how quickly something becomes obsolete when at one time it didn't. What I find ironic about this song is the fact that it was the first song featured on MTV when it premiered funny isn't it, a song about the death of one media displayed on the birth of another...
And on that bombshell I shall end goodnight!
But the author definitely intended to make the meaning a bit unclear and open for interpretation in order to stimulate curiosity; There is definitely a hidden meaning in that song, and it is easily detectable in the selection of words which can never be a coincidence:
"lying awake.. If I was young it didn't stop you coming through", coming through what?
It is like a teenager in love.
"i met your children" here the radio seems like a human being with children, what did the author mean by the radio, or radio star's children? newer technology, followers or simply children?
"you were the first one..you were the last one" First and last what? radio star in history? i think that these words, my first, my last, are used in romance most of the time and the meaning of it with the radio, is simply not clear...
"And now we meet in an abandoned studio
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago
And you remember the jingles used to go"
Why would the Author meet the radio, why not lyrics like i found my old radio or something in that sense? and YOU remember, who is YOU? also not clear... does the radio have a memory?
"In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind we've gone to far
Pictures came and broke your heart"
the radio's heart is broken? WE have gone to far? it is like a mistake that WE did, there is definitely some guilt in this... although the technology is always changing, why does the author want to rewind that much?
Now try to imagine this song is about his first love, when the author was young, he fell in love "If I was young it didn't stop you coming through". she was his first and last love but video, a new girl came and broke her heart, although it was a mistake, we cannot rewind, we have gone too far... We finally meet after a long time, you have children now, "We hear the playback and it seems so long ago And you remember the jingles used to go" we remember our childhood, love memories ...
This is definitely ONE meaning the author intended to put in his song, although i admit that there are others, that's what makes this song so brilliant!!
nice work. just on the 'you were the first one... you were the last one' lyric, i think there's a definite meaning here - radio 'stars' came and went so quickly. the advent of radio as an entertainment, musically, gave only a small number of years for a star to develop, and then radio entertainment was taken over by MTV and the like...
just how i see it :)