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 looked like she learned to dance from a series of still pictures
She's madly excited now, she throws her hands up like a tulip
She looks like an illustration of a cocktail party
Where cartoon bubbles burst in the air,
Champagne rolls off her tongue like a second language
And it should have been her biggest night
The satellite looks down on her as she begins to cry
[Chorus:]
All over the world at the very same time people sharing the same sorrow
As the satellite looks down her darkest hour is somebody's bright tomorrow
He pulled on a cigarette, in the crook of his first finger
Felt the static electric charge of her perfect hour-glass figure
As he undressed her with his eyes her weakness was his talent
How could she know as she stepped through the lights, that her dress would become
Transparent
And with his face pressed to the screen,
He muttered words he'd never dare to say if she could see him
All over the world at the very same time
People sharing the same cheap sensation the
Thrill of watching somebody watching those
Forbidden things we never mention
[Chorus]
The satellite looks down right now and forever
What it has pulled apart let no man tether his own body to his dream,
His dream to someone else
Oh no, oh no.
She went back to a pitiful compromise, he'd go back to his family
But for the matter of a thousand miles that separated them entirely
In the hot unloving spotlight, with secrets it arouses
Now they both know what it's like inside a pornographer's trousers
And in a funny way it's anonymous, the satellite
It blesses us and makes these dreams come
True...all over the world
[Chorus]
She's madly excited now, she throws her hands up like a tulip
She looks like an illustration of a cocktail party
Where cartoon bubbles burst in the air,
Champagne rolls off her tongue like a second language
And it should have been her biggest night
The satellite looks down on her as she begins to cry
[Chorus:]
All over the world at the very same time people sharing the same sorrow
As the satellite looks down her darkest hour is somebody's bright tomorrow
He pulled on a cigarette, in the crook of his first finger
Felt the static electric charge of her perfect hour-glass figure
As he undressed her with his eyes her weakness was his talent
How could she know as she stepped through the lights, that her dress would become
Transparent
And with his face pressed to the screen,
He muttered words he'd never dare to say if she could see him
All over the world at the very same time
People sharing the same cheap sensation the
Thrill of watching somebody watching those
Forbidden things we never mention
[Chorus]
The satellite looks down right now and forever
What it has pulled apart let no man tether his own body to his dream,
His dream to someone else
Oh no, oh no.
She went back to a pitiful compromise, he'd go back to his family
But for the matter of a thousand miles that separated them entirely
In the hot unloving spotlight, with secrets it arouses
Now they both know what it's like inside a pornographer's trousers
And in a funny way it's anonymous, the satellite
It blesses us and makes these dreams come
True...all over the world
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by southboundpachyderm
Satellite Lyrics as written by Elvis Costello
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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While there is definitely a pornographic element to the song, it seems like there is more to it than just that. I've listened to this song for years, but can't quite figure out all the metaphors.
Anyone?
Specifically, it seems to be about a cam-girl, perhaps her first night online, and a particular member of her audience. More generally, Elvis addresses the alienation from love and sexuality that results from the absurd, false intimacy of internet chat rooms, et cetera. I have wondered from time to time if Elvis, alone in hotel rooms as he toured as a headliner, has occasionally plumbed those depths as a consumer. Have there been "...times when he was so lonely he took some comfort there"? I don\'t think Elvis is venting a \'screed\' against pornography. The song is nuanced in the lyrics, and the melody has a wistful quality that seems to express empathy rather than judgement and anger.
I figure Elvis probably saw something like this happen and wrote a song about it... I imagine the girl being on a New Year's Eve broadcast. Just an audience member, really. Drinking, dancing, with the camera lighting on her. Without warning, she bursts into tears. And as she walks through the spotlight, the dress becomes see-through without her being aware.
Elvis shines his own spotlight on the anonymous viewers: Empathizing with her sadness in verse one, being titillated by her transparent dress in verse two.
She goes back to her 'pitiful compromise'... probably the bad relationship that made her burst into tears. The TV audience return to their real lives. And the satellite, an unblinking eye that brings these secret lives into homes around the world, "blesses" us by keeping us untethered from the images we see.
Elvis's screed against pornography.