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 see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin' comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin' comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Lyrics submitted by hermelinus, edited by morrolan, atp, BroccoliMan, rpn453, reach2portals2, Raven95, JulianDoes, jadedcynic
Paint It, Black Lyrics as written by Michael Jagger Keith Richards
Lyrics © Abkco Music Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
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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"
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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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.
No, no, no. You people are reading way too much into this. The lyric is quite simple. No drugs, no Vietnam, no affirmative action. The lyric is about the death of his girlfriend, and attending the subsequent funeral after. The red door referrs to his heart, which he now wants painted black, as to never be opened again. The man is grieving here after all. And the funeral: "...line of cars painted black, with flowers and my love, both never to come back". How much Poe do you need? Furthermore: "..i could not for-see this thing happening to you".. the protagonist blaming himself for not being able to help or stop the death from happening. Painting it black is a metaphore for his mood and how he does not wish to be consoled, merely left alone to "fade away and not have to face the facts". As far as the girls walking by in their summer clothes, they simply remind him of his loss and must therefore turn away, "...until my darkness goes".
I must say though I do have issue with incorrect lyrics posted at the end here. It doesn't say ..."I want to see your face painted black" the song simply says : "I want to see it painted, painted black, black as night..." And it does not say .."don't want to see the sun flying high in the sky..." it says: ..."I want to see the sun blotted out from the sky". If you listen with ear phones it is unmistakeable. Again this man is crushed, he wants everything to be black to reflect his malaise.
I see this song and "As Tears Go By" as two stages in the process of grieving. It's obvious from the lyrics that someone has died. "Paint it black" is the anger/denial/isolation stage, and "As Tears Go By" is the acceptance stage. The person in the "As Tears Go By" song's POV is still sad and melancholy (basically watching the kids play thinking of the kids they will never be able to have with their dead loved one, maybe) but time has passed and allowed them to heal a little. "Paint It Black" definitely expresses fresh rage and grief over having unexpectedly lost someone. ("I could not foresee this thing happening to you.")
@Karnenyen Thanks! But why this line "I see people turn their heads and quickly look away<br /> Like a newborn baby it just happens ev'ryday" is on funeral?<br /> And why "green sea"? :)<br />
@Karnenyen I had a similar idea to that (i'm listening to the VersaMerge cover for the song) and I just thought the red door was a literal thing, like her/his lover was murdered close to a door and the blood stained it. But I like your explanation better
@Karnenyen - petra10467on November 11, 2015<br /> During the funeral people feel down but just like death there is life... nothing a bitter person finds much emotion in either way. He wants no colors, so his green sea will not exist because it will be black???? It cannot turn to blue (be beautiful because it will be black.
@Karnenyen i changed the "don't want to see the sun flying high in the sky" part to the correct version. I'll admit, when I read that part I cringed badly.
@Karnenyen nice interpretation but they said that it isn't about anything specific. So not directly talking about a loved one. It is just about depression and wanting the outside world to mimic what he feelings.
@petra10467 I think that line means that as the hearse drives by, people on the streets turn their heads to look at it, recognize it as it means someone died, and quickly turn their gaze away unimpressed, because just like babies being born everyday, people die everyday. It's so natural and mundane that to a stranger on the street, it's not even worth a thought. <br /> <br /> I've been on that situation of driving behind a hearse and seeing people walk by going about their everyday life, while you feel like you are in another dimension because death, as simple as it is, it's such a strange concept to wrap your head around when it strikes someone you love. <br /> <br /> It adds to the whole strangeness of it, that to everyone else, it's just another day, life goes on, as if nothing.
This song is called by all thing in black