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.
I found a pile of Polaroids
In the crates of a record shop
They were sexy, sexy looking back
From a night that time forgot, hmm
Boy he was something debonair in 1979
And she had Farrah Fawcett hair
Carafes of blood red wine, hmm
In the summertime
In the summertime
Oh don't you wonder when the light begins to fade?
And the clock just makes the colors turn to grey
Forever younger growing older just the same
All the memories that we make will never change
We'll stay drunk, we'll stay tan, let the love remain
And I swear that I'll always paint you
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
I bet they met some diplomats on Bianca Jagger's new yacht
With their caviar and dead cigars
The air was sauna hot, hmm
I bet they never even thought about
The glitter dancing on the skin
The decades might've washed it out
As the flashes popped like pins, hmm
In the summertime
In the summertime
Oh don't you wonder when the light begins to fade?
And the clock just makes the colors turn to grey
Forever younger growing older just the same
All the memories that we make will never change
We'll stay drunk, we'll stay tan, let the love remain
And I swear that I'll always paint you
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Time can never break your heart
But It'll take the pain away
Right now our future's certain
I won't let it fade away
Golden days
Golden days
Golden days
Golden days
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
In the crates of a record shop
They were sexy, sexy looking back
From a night that time forgot, hmm
Boy he was something debonair in 1979
And she had Farrah Fawcett hair
Carafes of blood red wine, hmm
In the summertime
In the summertime
Oh don't you wonder when the light begins to fade?
And the clock just makes the colors turn to grey
Forever younger growing older just the same
All the memories that we make will never change
We'll stay drunk, we'll stay tan, let the love remain
And I swear that I'll always paint you
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
I bet they met some diplomats on Bianca Jagger's new yacht
With their caviar and dead cigars
The air was sauna hot, hmm
I bet they never even thought about
The glitter dancing on the skin
The decades might've washed it out
As the flashes popped like pins, hmm
In the summertime
In the summertime
Oh don't you wonder when the light begins to fade?
And the clock just makes the colors turn to grey
Forever younger growing older just the same
All the memories that we make will never change
We'll stay drunk, we'll stay tan, let the love remain
And I swear that I'll always paint you
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Time can never break your heart
But It'll take the pain away
Right now our future's certain
I won't let it fade away
Golden days
Golden days
Golden days
Golden days
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Golden days!
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Golden Days Lyrics as written by Brendon Boyd Urie Jacob S. Sinclair
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Hipgnosis Songs Group
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Given that the song was published in the wake of such passings in the music world as David Bowie and Whitney Houston, we can assume that the song is merely Brendon Urie reflecting on the artist's impact. He compared the golden days of the height of an artist or group's popularity to what happens as they get older, either falling from favor or rocketing to legendary status, in the form of a narrative about finding pictures of older stars from their glory days that reminds him of how it felt for Panic at the beginning versus what it feels like now, as what is effectively a solo artist. It makes him think about the promises you make when you're young and dumb, that you everyday break because those things can't be maintained as you age.
I believe the song is about realizing that you can't go back into the past. Brendon is singing about the "golden days" and how he's coming to the realization that he can't go back to them. He denies that they're gone at first, but slowly comes to accept it.