I wanted to be with you alone
And talk about the weather
But traditions I can trace against the child in your face
Won't escape my attention
You keep your distance with a system of touch
And gentle persuasion
I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much?
Oh, you're wasting my time
You're just, just, just wasting time

Something happens and I'm head over heels
I never find out 'til I'm head over heels
Something happens and I'm head over heels
Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart
Don't, don't, don't throw it away

Throw it away
Throw it away

I made a fire, I'm watching it burn (yeah)
I thought of your future
With one foot in the past, now just how long will it last?
No, no, no, have you no ambition? (Mmm, what's the matter with my?)
My mother and my brothers used to breathe in clean air
(Nothing ever changes when you're acting your age)
And dreaming I'm a doctor (nothing gets done when you feel like a baby)
It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand
(Nothing ever changes when you're acting your age) oh, I feel so

Something happens and I'm head over heels
I never find out 'til I'm head over heels
Something happens and I'm head over heels
Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart
Don't, don't, don't throw it away

And this my four-leaf clover
I'm on the line, one open mind
This is my four-leaf clover

(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la)
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la) in my mind's eye
(La, la, la, la, la) one little boy, one little man
(La, la, la, la, la)
Funny how time flies


Lyrics submitted by numb, edited by rockoperajon, Scribbles92

Head Over Heels Lyrics as written by Roland Orzabal Curt Smith

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network

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Head Over Heels song meanings
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  • +3
    General Comment

    Just in case anyone is still confused on the lyrics, it's DOCTOR...GUN...HAND. I'm reading this directly from the CD booklet.

    I just watched the video, and if it is meant as an explication of the song itself I think most peoples comments are on the right track.

    Notice, the object of the singers affections is a librarian, of course she works in a library. Written works can easily symbolize the past. Knowledge and events that we don't want to let go of (so we right them down). This girl surrounds and really encloses herself in such, apparently to the exclusion of this young mans affections.
    He on the other hand first appears lugging his own stack of books (his own 'baggage') but he has come to get rid of it. He wants to move forward. And he goes through various attempts to explain all of this to her, and express his fears that she ultimately won't or can't let go of whatever is holding her back.

    It's funny, but I think the 'system of touch' lyric isn't expressed until relatively late in the video. It's like he's running out of ideas on how to break through her emotional catatonia, so he resorts to silly (childish) antics, like the 'Bang!' gun, which actually gets through to her on some level, because she responds (physically) on the same level...childish antics, like pinching his nose. If this is somehow a metaphor for sex, I don't know, but I think it's significant in that it's what keeps him going. It's not the reaction he wants (her growing up and 'discussing the weather' as adults do...) but it's enough to give him hope that maybe he can help he (like a 'doctor'), so he presses on.

    I don't know, I could desect it more, but that's my core theory. But based on the video it looks like he is ultimately successful, and yet he gives credence to the fact that we can't every really lose all our baggage. Even as his wife (she doesn't look like a maid to me) seemingly of many years, brings him coffee/tea, he himself is poring over a book. Maybe it's just symbolic of him reminiscing on how he and she got together so long ago ( 'Time flies...')

    TsingTaoon April 11, 2007   Link

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