Never Die Young

First of all, I think this is a great first track for an album. It starts the entire album off with a cymbal crash and an inspirational electric guitar riff. Just great.

When I first heard this song, I thought it was about two people breaking up. But after listening to it quite a few times now, I think it's about two people who were always perfect for each other and who were able to make it through every hardship that they encountered.

He talks about being "ring around the rosy children" while they were "circles around the sun," evoking the thought of two people who grew up faster than those around them. He and his friends were concerned with trite games of children (probably meaning "young adults") while the two subjects of the song were onto more important things

"Synchronized with the rising moon. Even with the evening star" symbolizes their unwavering connection and his point of view that there is something special about this couple.

And as the turmoil of the world around him and his friends leads to jealousy they allow pessimism to take over and won't "believe they might make it." Instead, they "cut up their losses into doable doses" and "ration their tears and sighs" (quite a poetic way of saying that they were still dealing with the day-to-day struggles in life while this perfect couple lived in blissful union). (I initially thought he was singing "And we who had been led to believe they might make it, we had to close our eyes," which is the main reason I thought the song was about breaking up.)

"Everyone used to run them down. They’re a little too sweet, they’re a little too tight. Not enough tough for this town" again describes the envy he and his friends felt as they watched these lovebirds continue their happiness.

"We couldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole. No, it didn’t seem to rattle at all. They were glued together body and soul" is pretty self-explanatory, and "That much more with their backs up against the wall" means is saying they seemed to grow even closer during tough times.

"Prey to the dust and the rust and the ruin that names us and claims us and shames us all" is confusing to listen to, and you can't really understand what he's saying unless you READ the lyrics. He uses the word "prey" rather than "pray." So, he is not saying they "pray to" or worship the dust and the rust, etc. Instead, he's describing himself and everyone else he knows as the "prey" of this unnamed beast (boredom? selfishness? human nature?) that seems to be stalking them all like the lion stalks the gazelle.

"I guess it had to happen someday soon" is referring to them getting married. (I originally thought he was talking about them breaking up here, but he's not)

"Oh yes other hearts were broken" is talking about the other people around him (and himself as well) who suffered from broken hearts, breakups and hardships throughout the relationship of "out golden ones," and he may even be alluding to the fact that other people (he and his friends) secretly loved these two people and that their hearts broke a little bit when the two got married, and it became obvious that no one else could ever have them.

But by the end of the song, he's let go of any jealousy or pessimism that might have endured and instead expresses hope that this perfect couple will make it, because, if they can, it gives everyone else the hope that they too will find happiness.

This song is beautiful in very way.

For me this song is about living life to its fullest.

It talks about a couple, older than the singer and admired by the singer and all in his age group. "When they were young kids they were unattainable circles around the sun". They could do no wrong, they were the ideals of a couple in love who would go on forever. But nothing could live up what they thought was perfection. Eventually they had problems and later pass on and the singer wants to hold on to them, he wants to hold on to the memory of the perfection that is no more...their lost youth. Seeing what happened to their older idols, makes the singer face his own mortality. He wants to hold on to the memories when they were like gods and could do no wrong. So the old couple now goes to another place "another land beneath another sky". Still the singer is not wanting to accept they are gone. Holding on to youth, holding on to the memories, realizing the inevitable, that his fate is the same as time goes by.

But as with many great songs, it will mean something different to different listeners!

I never understood the "they" referring to 2 lovers; to me ,it always seemed like a group that was referred to, perhaps another family? But of course the commentary by jimmypolecat ad others that it is about lovers makes sense and hits a chord. What a wonderful song. Like Dylan's best, not easily translated into a single meaning. "They" were always admired by the writer...they were too advanced for this world, yet too sensitive and suffered from its hardships " Not enough tough for this tough town" " Prey to the dust and the rust and the ruin"....even they couldn't avoid the materiality of this world. Eventually they "take the sky, forsake the ground"....the golden ones.." sail on to another land beneath another sky" While others were playing childish games they were circling the sun...

I agree with basically everything said. But I believe that undue confusion surrounds the word "prey" and the phrases that accompany it... The lyrics are separated in writing, but rythmically the phrases: Never do let them fall Prey to the dust and the rust and the ruin That names us and claims us and shames us all

are sung as one long part. Never do let them fall prey to the dust and the rust and the ruin that names us and claims us and shames us all.

....

falling prey to the hardships, I think the words separated into stanzas bring confusion when "fall" and "prey" are part of the same phrase.

just my two cents if that could clear things up for anyone reading this.

Never Die Young. I keep hearing things that tell me this song truly is about death. From the title on. It's both about young people, (ring around the rosy, circles round the sun) and old people (the 'golden ones'). We are all, young and old, the prey for old age and death. It's about diversity, 'they were' versus 'we were', but comes to a nice realization in finding and cherishing the value in others and conclusion by and in the end of the song.

Hi all,

This beautiful song is quite enigmatic, yes, which makes it even very poetic. Yet, no need to further interprete meanings: it IS about AIDS ! You can read for instance these interesting articles on the subject: academia.edu/533925/Closeness_and_Distance_Songs_about_AIDS

glbtq.com/arts/music_aids.html

I could spend lines and lines dissecting why I think it is pretty clear that it is a song about AIDS and gay a couple's "marginality", but you are all clever people and need no further explanation ;-)

B.

You folks have me agreeing with all of you, so I'll give you a different take.

Personally—I'll get to the crowd next—I take the song globally, rather than parsing enigmatic lyrics for meaning—and it make me very sad.

Along these lines, if you look at the song's rating on Amazon and iTunes, it's the least popular song on the album. This could be due to a positivity bias; people prefer happy songs, generally.

Eavn Mitchell Stark PhD

Hi folks,

I thought my interpretation of this song was pretty straightforward until I came here and didn't see it anywhere.

So I could be wrong but...

I'm a father with two grown kids.

To me this is just a song about raising children.

The first two lines seem like a comparison between generations.

From there, it's all about watching your children grow and work through the challenges of youth, have their hearts broken, recover and rebound, and finally leave home ("I guess it had to happen someday soon.")

jake905

To me this song implores the listener to live with the beauty and energy we all had as younger people (teens/tweens) and to not let the weight of time ("rust and ruin") and maladies of life tear us down to where we forget who we once were. Most songs that reflect on the past are either very haunting or just downright sad and remorseful, but James' song really celebrates the past instead of being overbearingly reflective and melancholy; think Eric Carmen's "All by Myself", or Paul Anka's "Times of Your Life".