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.
She's the song that you tried to sing,
And the note that you couldn't hit.
So you locked her up in a music box,
And turned the key on all of us.
She spins silver strings in the dark,
With metal teeth that ring in her heart.
When the cover drops, the world just fades away from her waiting for her to say it:
[Chorus]
K-I-S-S I'm in distress,
I need someone to spell it out
You know our love's not unconditional.
A book of matches and a cigarette,
A love note that you never sent,
You can fold it up but you won't forget
You can strike a match but it still might not light
Now I'm the one stuck inside this silver cage,
The bird that can't fly away clips it's wings if it sings of the way, the way that it hurt
Waiting for her to say it:
[Chorus]
Low f-I-d-e-l-I-t-y do all love songs turn out this way? can't you hear me when I say:
You're in my heart, in my hands, around my neck.
We move like a carousel,
Streak lights and mirrors fill our eyes.
It's time to let this go,
But we can't stop spinning around
And the note that you couldn't hit.
So you locked her up in a music box,
And turned the key on all of us.
She spins silver strings in the dark,
With metal teeth that ring in her heart.
When the cover drops, the world just fades away from her waiting for her to say it:
[Chorus]
K-I-S-S I'm in distress,
I need someone to spell it out
You know our love's not unconditional.
A book of matches and a cigarette,
A love note that you never sent,
You can fold it up but you won't forget
You can strike a match but it still might not light
Now I'm the one stuck inside this silver cage,
The bird that can't fly away clips it's wings if it sings of the way, the way that it hurt
Waiting for her to say it:
[Chorus]
Low f-I-d-e-l-I-t-y do all love songs turn out this way? can't you hear me when I say:
You're in my heart, in my hands, around my neck.
We move like a carousel,
Streak lights and mirrors fill our eyes.
It's time to let this go,
But we can't stop spinning around
Lyrics submitted by xsaint2sinnerx, edited by SephNite
Telegraph Avenue Kiss Lyrics as written by Andrew Everding Iii
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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It's definitely not "I'm in distress", you can't hear the "sss" sound at the end of the last word. Plus, they usually relate words in the song to the title, and nothing really relates to telegraph AVENUE expcept the "k-i-s-s on the streets" part.
nope its definitely i'm in distress. saw em live, and you can hear it much better. thats what he says.