When You Were Young Lyrics
You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes
[Chorus 1]
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined
When you were young
[Verse 2]
Can we climb this mountain? I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go
[Chorus 2]
We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young
When you were young
And sometimes you close your eyes
And see the place where you used to live
When you were young
[Bridge]
They say the devil's water — it ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while
[Verse 1]
You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes
[Chorus 1]
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined
When you were young
(Talks like a gentleman)
(Like you imagined when)
When you were young
About
The lead single off of Sam’s Town. The song contemplates the difference between expectations and reality through a love affair between a girl and a gentleman who ‘doesn’t look a thing like Jesus’.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
“We’ve been guilty of having a lot of chords in our songs, and there’s not anything necessarily wrong with that, but there’s something great about simplicity. ‘When You Were Young’ is just one progression which repeats, with a couple of small variations, but it was instantly powerful and once I heard it, I came up with the melody and the title within 20 minutes. It was one of those exciting moments that you read about, and I’ve been lucky enough to be part of it a few times. This was definitely one of them. Live, it took a huge load off my shoulders too – there was a lot of pressure on us when ‘Hot Fuss’ did so well, and that song was just a total relief! I knew that song had something about it, and I’m thankful for it every night. It kept the fire in us, it kept the ball rolling.” – Brandon Flowers writing for NME, November 8, 2013.
- 1.Sam’s Town
- 2.Enterlude
- 3.When You Were Young
- 6.Read My Mind
- 7.Uncle Jonny
- 8.Bones
- 9.My List
- 12.Exitlude
