He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Now Josephine, she was a loner
Her fortune of incredible lies
Her problems are now your problems
I hide a gun until the day she dies
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Now Angie, she was a demon
She had six arms and Lucifer eyes
She always had its glow
And always made me flow
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
This promise, love and all things go
From my love
She said please be kind and
Please be brave and kill for fun
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She lays down with a revolver
She's so cold, my heat evolved her
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Her fortune of incredible lies
Her problems are now your problems
I hide a gun until the day she dies
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Now Angie, she was a demon
She had six arms and Lucifer eyes
She always had its glow
And always made me flow
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
This promise, love and all things go
From my love
She said please be kind and
Please be brave and kill for fun
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She lays down with a revolver
She's so cold, my heat evolved her
Don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
She said don't play with guns
Don't play with guns
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by eastjesusshenanigan418, smallwonderrobot, Wayfinity, KAC89, marvin1000
Don't Play with Guns Lyrics as written by Geary Bland Alexander Maas
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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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.
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
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.
It's pretty clearly about hired guns and not playing around with them. It even mentions a hired gun explicitly.
I think it's more than just a song about hired guns. I hear it more as a song about bad girls. Girls out of his league. Everyone knows one, the type of girl who knows how to get into and out of trouble. The warning about guns isn't actually saying, be careful with guns it's saying, don't play with me, I'm dangerous.