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:

3 AMMatchbox Twenty

The Matchbox Twenty song "3 AM" is about the difficult times lead singer Rob Thomas spent caring for his mother, who had cancer.

Lotta LoveNicolette Larson

The Nicolette Larson hit "Lotta Love" was written by Neil Young, who recorded a very different version of the song.

Sweetest ThingU2

Bono wrote U2's song "Sweetest Thing" for his wife to make up for working on her birthday. For the video, he staged an "apology parade," complete with Irish step dancers and an elephant.

AlejandroLady Gaga

The songs on Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster album represent a "fear" of some "monster." "Alejandro" is her "fear of sex" monster.

Highway to HellAC/DC

The "Highway To Hell" is the Canning Highway in Australia, which seems to go on forever, at least according to AC/DC.

Hungry HeartBruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen originally wrote "Hungry Heart" for The Ramones, but decided to keep it for himself on the advice of his producer and manager, Jon Landau.

Editor's Picks

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Grunge Bands QuizMusic Quiz

If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.