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We Did It When We Were Young Lyrics
Don't write me no more letters
My mailbox is full of bombs
Between you and the kooks on my block
I don't remember the good times
I wasn't there and you were kind
And my wife has some dogs in our yard
And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun
We were strangers many hours
And I missed you for so long
When we were lions, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned
But I am older now
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young
There are no reasons to believe
I buried my faith in another plot
Where your heart and your claws
Will not find it
And I don't feel you or recall
I put your bones out in the yard
For someone else to be called and caught by
And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun
We were strangers many hours
And I missed you for so long
When we were lions, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned
But I am older now
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young
My mailbox is full of bombs
Between you and the kooks on my block
I don't remember the good times
I wasn't there and you were kind
And my wife has some dogs in our yard
And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun
We were strangers many hours
And I missed you for so long
When we were lions, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young
I buried my faith in another plot
Where your heart and your claws
Will not find it
And I don't feel you or recall
I put your bones out in the yard
For someone else to be called and caught by
And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun
We were strangers many hours
And I missed you for so long
When we were lions, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young
Song Info
Submitted by
eltroyo11 On Apr 20, 2010
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Narrator is reflecting on a past relationship that ended bitterly. He is content with his current life with his general comfort, wife and well-being. His past love must have re-entered his life in some way and he is letting her know that although he once loved and cherished her deeply, he has moved on and remember how she mistreated him.
My favorite song off the album, I think. All the songs are amazing though (of course!)
Not quite sure what it's about. I see it as kind of... bitterly reminiscent. I see the narrator like sitting on the porch of his little suburban house, with his wife and his dogs, and thinking about the past. How hard life used to be and how he crawled out of it half dead and broken for... the suburbs and some dogs.
Or alternatively, he crawled out of mess his life used to be, half dead and broken, and is trying to settle into this new life and somebody from that past shows up and throws everything ass over teakettle.
I don't know, but I love it. The way he sings the line 'And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun' and the chorus. He kills me.
One of the best songs of 2010.
One of my favorite songs on the album!
It says "every pretty gun" in the booklet actually. Besides, Gaslight Anthem rarely uses direct terms for things. Every pretty gun obviously means every pretty girl, its just the way they write songs.
Anyway, this is my favorite song off the album because of how much I can relate to it. I pretty much agree with realsounding's explanation. A guy thinks he loves a girl, but was never really happy with her and they always fight. The guy eventually gets fed up with it and just leaves. "And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun" means that he can't keep on loving every girl he's been with, and has to move on, which is what the chorus is about. That was then and this is now.
surely it's "cannot hold a candle for every pretty girl" doesn't that make more sense? definately my favourite off American Slang. and i thought it was "liars, lovers and con-men" but now i'm not so sure. still, i like my interpretation better. sounds more poetic
There are no reasons to believe I buried my faith on the block
I always sing I buried my faith in another blonde... maybe that's just me.