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.
The morning was cold and lonely
City lights old and grey
The sun arose trying to smile
Gave it all away
The honky-tonk called a stranger
The stranger couldn't pay the bill
Made a stand, raised his hand
Sang a song, no time to kill
I said, Hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
I've got a tale to tell
I've just been down in New York town
It really feels like hell
It really feels like hell
Billy was out of fashion
Manhattan was years ago
Yesterday he wasted time
Money was kind of slow
Billy had friends of glory
Billy was a friend of fame
Took a chance, raised his hand
Sang a song, now he's back in the game
Hey, St. Peter
Before you ring your bell
Just been down in New York town
Done my time in hell
Done my time in hell
I said, Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
It really feels like hell
It really feels like hell
It really feels like hell
City lights old and grey
The sun arose trying to smile
Gave it all away
The honky-tonk called a stranger
The stranger couldn't pay the bill
Made a stand, raised his hand
Sang a song, no time to kill
I said, Hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
I've got a tale to tell
I've just been down in New York town
It really feels like hell
It really feels like hell
Billy was out of fashion
Manhattan was years ago
Yesterday he wasted time
Money was kind of slow
Billy had friends of glory
Billy was a friend of fame
Took a chance, raised his hand
Sang a song, now he's back in the game
Hey, St. Peter
Before you ring your bell
Just been down in New York town
Done my time in hell
Done my time in hell
I said, Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, St. Peter
It really feels like hell
It really feels like hell
It really feels like hell
Lyrics submitted by XrookieoftheyearX
Hey St. Peter Lyrics as written by George Redburn Young Johannes Henderikus Jacob Vandenberg
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
The Flash in the Pan guys used to go clubbing, loved the kinky NYC crowd, they happened to run into this fellow Billy who long ago famously performed in the Manhattan club scene as a drag queen, he was down and out "pure hell in New York town" but was encouraged to take a chance at the gay karaoke club sang a song and now comeback inspired " back in the game". song goes on to suggest when time comes and Billy's at the pearly gates he'll tell St Peter he's already done his time in Hell. Moral of the story "raise your hand, make a stand" save yourself at what you do best, in this case dress in drag and sing a song.
BWWAAAHAHAHA!!! Forty years I've been hearing this song lyrics to be "Just been down into your town..." and I've always wondered what's so bad about St. Petersburg that somebody had to write a song about it. So this morning I finally googled "Hey St Peter meaning" only to discover it's "New York town"! Changes EVERYTHING!! BWWAAAHAHAHA!!!
I am going to guess Hey St. Peter has something to do with drugs because of the line " The stranger couldn't pay the bill". Because of the line " Sang a song, now he's back in the game" the song may have something to do with trying to get into show business in New York. But, it does not say what is wrong with being in New York, other then "money was kind of low." I heard about a case of singers trying to make in Nashville and the paid money to be listed in a magazine called Cash Box. I wondered if maybe this was a similar thing, but in New York. Maybe Billy is a singer trying to make it in New York? The money was kind of low and could not pay the bill could mean Billy is running out of money to pay the promoters to push his songs. The Cash Box Murder happened after this song was written however, so it can't be related to the incident at Cash Box Magazine. The lyrics are very vague. I found the video on You Tube, and I did not like it. It did not bring any new meaning to light. The only part that was watchable was when the two guys were singing the song on a microphone, but they were probably lip syncing. If someone has insider information from the group Flash in the Pan, which by the way has a connection to Angus Young of AC/DC, I would like to know what this songs means, and what they were thinking when they wrote the song and made the video.
I doubt it had anything to do with drugs or anything that out of the box like you mentioned. New York truly did feel like hell in the 70’s and I think that’s what inspired this song. The line “Manhattan was years ago” to me means that the city has gotten so bad that it’s not even recognizable anymore which was true; the amount of travesties that occurred is unreal and buildings were literally going for a few dollars. Ugh I have a lot to relate to this song because New York is right back were it is was in the 70’s now enhanced with communism. This is the begging and the worst is yet to come!