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.
Well, if I spell it out, if I yell it out
Will you hear me when I tell you 'bout
What I have to say, 'fore it gets to late?
It's not as easy as I said it'd be
But there's something right about you and me
Something right about you and me
Well, you're the color of a burning book
You're the color of a sideways look from an undercover cop in a comic book
You're the color of a storm in June
You're the color of the moon
You're the color of the night, that's right
Color of a fight, you move me
You're the color of the colored part of the Wizard of Oz movie
We're like Romeo and Juliet
We're like 40 dogs, cigarettes
We're good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily
All the boys taking you for granted
Tell you what they want with their eyes all slanted
I don't like the way they look at you
I don't like the way they talk to
I don't like the way they talk to you
I wouldn't let 'em talk to you like that
Put 'em up high, reach for the ceiling
Tell them that I'ma walk, damn it I'm reelin'
It ain't no crime, it's just dreams we're stealing
Anything to get more of this feeling
You take the high and I'll take the low
We'll get their before you know
We ain't got no time to waste
We got too much life to taste
We're like Romeo and Juliet
And 40 dogs, cigarettes
We're good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily
Sometimes you remind me of a moonbeam
On the ghost of a moonbeam out on the beach down by the coast
Slipping through the nil like
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
Come out tonight, come out with me, baby
We'll throw the careful into the crazy
Turn the sky black into a sky blue
Turn the close shave into a hoo-hoo
What I say is true, make fire gotta, burn a few
Make fire, gotta burn a few
We can do what we wanna do
We're like Romeo and Juliet
40 dogs, cigarettes
We're good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily
Will you hear me when I tell you 'bout
What I have to say, 'fore it gets to late?
It's not as easy as I said it'd be
But there's something right about you and me
Something right about you and me
Well, you're the color of a burning book
You're the color of a sideways look from an undercover cop in a comic book
You're the color of a storm in June
You're the color of the moon
You're the color of the night, that's right
Color of a fight, you move me
You're the color of the colored part of the Wizard of Oz movie
We're like Romeo and Juliet
We're like 40 dogs, cigarettes
We're good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily
All the boys taking you for granted
Tell you what they want with their eyes all slanted
I don't like the way they look at you
I don't like the way they talk to
I don't like the way they talk to you
I wouldn't let 'em talk to you like that
Put 'em up high, reach for the ceiling
Tell them that I'ma walk, damn it I'm reelin'
It ain't no crime, it's just dreams we're stealing
Anything to get more of this feeling
You take the high and I'll take the low
We'll get their before you know
We ain't got no time to waste
We got too much life to taste
We're like Romeo and Juliet
And 40 dogs, cigarettes
We're good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily
Sometimes you remind me of a moonbeam
On the ghost of a moonbeam out on the beach down by the coast
Slipping through the nil like
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
Come out tonight, come out with me, baby
We'll throw the careful into the crazy
Turn the sky black into a sky blue
Turn the close shave into a hoo-hoo
What I say is true, make fire gotta, burn a few
Make fire, gotta burn a few
We can do what we wanna do
We're like Romeo and Juliet
40 dogs, cigarettes
We're good times that haven't happened yet, but will
And I can tell you where we're gonna be
When the whole world falls to the sea
We'll be living ever after, happily
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet) Lyrics as written by Bob Schneider
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.