You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentlemen
Like you imagined when you were young

Can we climb this mountain?
I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes
And see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentlemen
Like you imagined when you were young
(Talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined)
When you were young

I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know


Lyrics submitted by sam_attack, edited by tigerfishy

When You Were Young Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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When You Were Young song meanings
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    General Comment

    It's about a girl who had her heart broken, but she's waiting on her "beautiful boy", as she sees him in her head, despite the way he's treated her, to save her from this heart break by coming back to her because she's forgiven him.

    He doesn't look a thing like Jesus- many see Jesus as a savior, and this he is certainly not, but she settles for the fact that he talks like a gentlemen. He's putting on a show of being kind, even though he isn't.

    She thinks they can climb this mountain, get over this huge obstacle that caused them to break up, if they take it slow. But right away, that plan goes out the window. They're "burning down the highway skyline", meaning moving really fast, "on the back of a hurricane", a fast moving disaster. They dive right back into the relationship with the same problems as always.

    She closes her eyes to see the place where they used to live - she's remembering the good times early in the relationship; clearly long gone.

    The last part talks of the devil's water, which is when you have a deep physical longing for someone to be in your life, even if you don't necessarily like them. So this refers to her constantly being tempted; she doesn't "have to drink right now" or she can dip her "feet every once in a while". Whether she puts him aside for now or not, she will always go back to him in some way, even though he is bad for her.

    Not a huge Killers fan, but this song is amazing.

    hotminxon May 02, 2020   Link

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