Album: Stunt (1998)

Charted: 28 44

License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• This song appears to follow the stages of a relationship.
  
  We start from when the couple initially meet:
  "I met you, before the fall of Rome and I bet you to let me take you home."
  
  The next verse is a date that didn't go so well:
  "I knew you before the west was won. I heard you say, 'the past was much more fun.'"
  
  Though he knows that they we get together again:
  "You go your way, I'll go mine but I'll see you next time."
  
  The couple then go on to make love, though she is bored:
  "If I put my fingers here and If I say I love you dear and if I play the same three chords will you just yawn And say, 'Ah, I hate it.'"
  
  They then split up, and he wonders if he'll ever see her again:
  "Alone and bored on a thirtieth century night will I see you on The Price is Right?"
  
  He also considers what he will do when she finds somebody else:
  "Will I cry, will I smile as you run, down the aisle?"
  >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Rich - London, England
• Steven Page wrote this song and sang lead.
• This was used as the theme song for the short-lived animated TV series Baby Blues. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Rob - Opelousas, LA

Comments: 9

• AnonymousTo me, it sounds like a fanciful tale about two immortals, living over the course of centuries, insofar as they meet in ancient Rome, live through the Wild West, are aware of present day TV shows, and he's looking forward to seeing her again in the 30th century. That's a span of at least 3,000 years.
  
  ( And I do love the joke about seeing her running down the aisle on the Price Is Right in the 30th century, a sly comment on how that game show has been on TV forever...)
• Keith from St. Joseph, MoI agree Kelli. Through the centuries, they keep running into each other.
• Colin from New JerseyReally feel this song pays homage to classic 60's tunes musically. It really has an early "Beatles" vibe to it that I've always thought was neat.
• Adrian from Crossville, TnThe line "If i play the same three chords is a direct comment on their GORDON album which so many of the songs were simple three chord progressions. A
  E D and G D C
• Pete from Royal Oak, MiI know -- knew -- a woman like this, off and on and off again, for more than twenty-five years. I daresay we remain too familiar and yet not particularly friendly to this day. The times we were back together had the same sort of wistful sense of starting something new and yet old, antediluvian really, that "It's All Been Done" captures here. Also the same sort of amused condescension on her part, the feigned forgetting, to match my breathless hopefulness and, to be frank, cloying.
  
  I hear the chorus a little different, though:
  "If I put my fingers here, and if I say 'I love you, dear,'
  And if I pray the scene records
  Will you just yawn and say, 'Ha! As if!'"
  
  Alone, and bored, on a Thirtieth Century night, will I see her on "The Price Is Right"? Will I cry, will I smile, when she runs down the aisle? It will, it has, all been done before.
• Jean from Cupar, ScotlandThey wrote this song as they felt their previously released song had been too wordy, and they wanted to write a song with a simple chorus ("woo hoo hoo").
• Jon from Juneau, AkJust my personal take on what someone else has already commented on: my understanding is that the lines "Will I cry, will I smile as you run, down the aisle?" are also referring to the Price is Right (from the previous line), since contestants run down the aisle when they are selected to play a game.
• Kevin from Quebec, Canadathey had andy creegans wife speak french in the middle in this song but i cant decipher what shes saying
• Kelli from Cedar Rapids, IaThis song makes me think of lovers being reincarnated through time, and meeting again, over and over, always ending up together.

More Songfacts:

MusclesDiana Ross

Michael Jackson wrote the Diana Ross hit "Muscles," which he named after his pet boa constrictor.

Bang!AJR

The voice is that says "here we go" in the AJR song "Bang!" belongs to Charlie Pellett, the announcer on the New York City subway ("stand clear of the closing doors, please").

Joy To The WorldThree Dog Night

Hoyt Axton wrote the Three Dog Night hit "Joy To The World." He said the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" line just came into his head after having a drink of wine.

WoodstockCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Joni Mitchell wrote "Woodstock" - the most popular song about the festival - but didn't attend the event because she was booked on The Dick Cavett Show.

OnlineBrad Paisley

The video for Brad Paisley's "Online" is a mini-Seinfeld reunion, featuring Jason Alexander, Estelle Harris, and Patrick Warburton.

That LadyThe Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers' "That Lady" was sampled by Kendrick Lamar for his 2014 single "I." Lamar turned up at Ronald Isley's house to personally ask permission to borrow from the song.

Editor's Picks

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"They're Playing My Song

With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.