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.
When I worked down at the liquor store
Guy with a shotgun came raging through the place
Muscled his way behind the counter
I shot him in the face
This morning I went down to the Catholic Church
'Cause something just came over me
Forty-five minutes in the pews
Praying the rosary
When the last days come
We shall see visions
More vivid than sunsets
Brighter than stars
We will recognize each other
And see ourselves for the first time
The way we really are
Decorative grating on my window
Gets a little rustier every year
I don't know how the metal gets rusty
When it never rains here
A year or so ago I worked at a liquor store
And a guy came in
Tried to kill me so I shot him in the face
I would do it again
I would do it again
When the last days come
We shall see visions
More vivid than sunsets
Brighter than stars
We will recognize each other
And see ourselves for the first time
The way we really are
Guy with a shotgun came raging through the place
Muscled his way behind the counter
I shot him in the face
This morning I went down to the Catholic Church
'Cause something just came over me
Forty-five minutes in the pews
Praying the rosary
When the last days come
We shall see visions
More vivid than sunsets
Brighter than stars
We will recognize each other
And see ourselves for the first time
The way we really are
Decorative grating on my window
Gets a little rustier every year
I don't know how the metal gets rusty
When it never rains here
A year or so ago I worked at a liquor store
And a guy came in
Tried to kill me so I shot him in the face
I would do it again
I would do it again
When the last days come
We shall see visions
More vivid than sunsets
Brighter than stars
We will recognize each other
And see ourselves for the first time
The way we really are
Lyrics submitted by I'm a Pirate
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Great version of a great song,
thanks to darnee, i think i can figure this song out. actually i think i have two interpretations. the first is based on darnees revelation, the second is my own thoughts upon a reread.
decorative windows is both the bars over windows in liquor stores and stained glass windows in churches. its about the connection between the two. and how his life at the liquor store and his murders make everything grow a little darker for him (the it never rains here line).
or, i have maybe a more clear interpretation based on the stanza about the rusting windows.
the way i see that is, hes kinda floating right now. he works in the liquour store and as part of his job he kills people. considering part of his job, he knows he needs to keep doing it being that in a lot of situations itll be his life or theirs. but he still sometimes attends church and confesses, and its the only thing that really keeps him stable when he thinks about all the comforting religous lessons he's known all his life. still he lives mainly in a darkness and hence the rust grows on bars in the liquour store. and he has to stay there and live with the fact that in that location he has killed people. the rust though it doesn often rain means it could maybe be fucking with his head. so he just sees things that way these days.
i actually just realized that its when i used to so maybe he quit. im seeing another interpretation as a continuation of the last, right after what the song sings about. he possibly decides to quit (or rather, does decide to quit). the church probably helped. im thinking he may have remembered what religion used to mean to him, but the id do it again says that he will never be the man he used to.
its a song about living with your past, even if its bad. its also about living with making negative choices, even if they're the right choices. thatd be negative meaning killing and right as in surviving at the same time.