Head Over Heels

Album: Songs From The Big Chair (1985)
Charted: 12 3
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  • I wanted to be with you alone
    And talk about the weather
    But traditions I can trace against the child in your face
    Won't escape my attention
    You keep your distance with a system of touch
    And gentle persuasion
    I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much?
    Oh, you're wasting my time
    You're just, just, just wasting time

    Something happens and I'm head over heels
    I never find out 'til I'm head over heels
    Something happens and I'm head over heels
    Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart
    Don't, don't, don't throw it away

    Throw it away
    Throw it away

    I made a fire, I'm watching it burn (yeah)
    I thought of your future
    With one foot in the past, now just how long will it last?
    No, no, no, have you no ambition? (Mmm, what's the matter with my?)
    My mother and my brothers used to breathe in clean in air
    (Nothing ever changes when you're acting your age)
    And dreaming I'm a doctor (nothing gets done when you feel like a baby)
    It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand
    (Nothing ever changes when you're acting your age) oh, I feel so

    Something happens and I'm head over heels
    I never find out 'til I'm head over heels
    Something happens and I'm head over heels
    Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart
    Don't, don't, don't throw it away

    And this my four-leaf clover
    I'm on the line, one open mind
    This is my four-leaf clover

    (La, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la)
    (La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la) in my mind's eye
    (La, la, la, la, la) one little boy, one little man
    (La, la, la, la, la)
    Funny how time flies Writer/s: Curt Smith, Roland Orzabal
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 8

  • Jeff from BostonWith regard to the "gun in your hand" line, while the interpretation given by Seventhmist below also does make sense, in the video when Roland Orzabal sings that lyric, he points a toy gun at the woman he's singing to. But I agree, this isn't meant as a literal threat. It's more like he's saying that when he's full of a mixture of emotions and testosterone, it's hard for him to behave maturely.
  • Michael from OntarioThe video was filmed at Emmanuel College Library in Toronto, Canada, in 1985

    The file cabinets are gone but the location is still almost identical to how it appeared in 1985

    Funny how time flies
  • Miss Heard-learichs from Planet Slam-it!Wow!!!! Talk about mishearing lyrics since this song FIRST debuted! I always thought it was: "My mother and my brothers used to beat me this (or so) much! [I'm] Dreaming I'm adopted! It's hard to be a man when there's a knot in your head--" See...I thought it to begin as a love song, then the author, as his "weather talks" weren't going quite as planned...drifted back to thoughts of his fatherless childhood with knots in his head from his beatings. I blame the musicians for saying that they based this on "Sybill," moreso than my lack of adequate hearing (LOL)! COOL to learn something NEW! I have loved this song since it debuted--seriously! Had the record (literally...and a record player that continued to play both this and other hits of that era perfectly, so crisp, even unto a few years back (2015 or at least 2014). Lasted longer than ANY CD player that I EVER OWNED (as many young adults and DEFINITELY children ponder what I meant by "a CD player....")! LOL!
  • Seventhmist from 7th Heaven"It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand."

    I think the above note misinterpreted this line. He's telling her that he's finding it difficult to keep his head because she has such power over him ("a gun in your hand"), not that he's threatening her in any way.
  • Shandroise De Laeken from Davao City, Philippines"Something happens and I'm head over heels, I never found out 'til I'm head over hee~~eels".
    I really like Orzabal's voice in this song! I really love his voice! One of the best I ever heard in my whole life so far (I'm 22 - just saying to let others know there are 90's born who love 50's - 90's songs until now (and I hate the crap that's in the contemporary radio).
  • Mickey Es Beck from Kansas CityThe music video is like a daydream. Anyone who has daydreams about a subject for awhile, knows how crazy they can become. Plus being in love with someone and daydreaming.
  • Myla from San Diego, CaOne of my Top 10 Favorite songs of the 80's. Never get tired of this song. It's classic!
  • Amy from Smithville, TnThis song was featured in the movie Donnie Darko.
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