What's the expression mean: "Only the good die young" ?

small axe · Apr 28, 2009

I know it's a Billy Joel song ... but it got me thinking, and it's open to shades of meaning, isn't it?

"Only the good die young" ???

What's that mean to you?

Because I was going to do a play on that, twist it, and have one vampire quip to another vampire:
"Only the young die good"

... meaning that living inherently corrupts us all. They're not evil because they're vampires, they're evil because they just live longer than we do, but we'd ALL be as bad as they were too.

And then it hit me: I have the TWIST on a phrase which I don't know what the ORIGINAL means! :Shrug:

So ... can anyone help by just offering what it means or could mean to YOU? Let's see what the expression CAN mean ...

Koganei · Apr 28, 2009

I think it means that the people who stay good and proper don't "live life to the fullest", and as such, remain in a state of innocence, in a state of youthful inexperience.

bettielee · Apr 28, 2009

I'm going to live forever.

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Apr 29, 2009

Google, Grasshopper. It is your friend.

regdog · Apr 29, 2009

It means all of us old, cranky, jerks are going to live forever

Wayne K · Apr 29, 2009

It means that it's amazing how many beautiful people die young, simple.

backslashbaby · Apr 29, 2009

" ‘Whom the gods love, die young’ was said of yore,
And many deaths do they escape by this:
The death of friends and that which slays even more,
The death of friendship, love, youth, all that is,
Except mere breath. And since the silent shore
Awaits at last even those whom longest miss
The old archer’s shafts, perhaps the early grave,
Which men weep over, may be meant to save.

Romantic Heretic · Apr 29, 2009

It means people who try to be good, wise and kind piss off people with power and then the good people get nailed to a piece of wood.

Most human beings envy the truly good, if not outright hate them. Evil we can handle, and even like if its our evil. But the truly good annoy everybody.

rhymegirl · Apr 29, 2009

It means only the good die young.

So you might as well be bad if you want to live for a long time.

NeuroFizz · Apr 29, 2009

It's a warning followed by a command...

Sargentodiaz · Apr 29, 2009

I know it's part of a song lyric but I'm positive it comes from an older work - I just can't find it on a quick Google search.

Koganei · Apr 29, 2009

Hey, I did a quick google search and found these:

http://qandablog.typepad.com/questions_and_answers/2005/05/only_the_good_d.html

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/149/

that'll probably help in some way or other

semilargeintestine · Apr 29, 2009

It means good people die young and assholes live forever. Spend some time in an emergency room and you'll see this is true. Drunk driver vs. family of four. Everyone in family of four is either dead or severely injured. Drunk driver walks away fine every time. Never fails.

NeuroFizz · Apr 29, 2009

In partial answer to the original question, and I don't know if this has been mentioned upstream, see the lyrics to the song, "Abraham, Martin and John." Go here:

http://artists.letssingit.com/dion-lyrics-abraham-martin-and-john-wphd6kx

Ken · Apr 29, 2009

just as a a reality check ...
The good do not die young, in an actual sense, but live far longer than the bad who live life in the fast lane, ravaging their minds and bodies with drugs and potentially toxic tete a tetes. The bad may seem cool and fun to be with but that is only because they are high on something half the time. I'd personally rather spend my time with someone who is dull and boring, than someone who is as phony and fake as a three dollar bill that's been rolled up.

Sorry for the preachin'. Have just seen too many lives laid to waste because of drugs and booze, including those of friends :-(

semilargeintestine · Apr 29, 2009

Just like mine was generalising, so is that. I too have lost people to drugs, but I have seen far more innocent people taken by assholes who walked away clean.
[/jaded_rant]

Ken · Apr 29, 2009

... your point about innocent people falling pray to collateral damage by druggies is an entirely valid one. Don't be so quick to write it off as a generalization, or mine, either. There are lots of stats to support these views, sad to say.

jodiodi · Apr 29, 2009

Good people are usually selfless and more prone to self-sacrifice; they wouldn't lie and cheat to save their own lives and fortunes; hence, the good are likely to die younger than the ones who run and hide, take everything for themselves, leave others out in the cold in order to save themselves.

The 'bad' prey on the 'good' in order to further their (bad) interests.

William Haskins · Apr 29, 2009

it means if you live past 18, you're a bad person.

C.bronco · Apr 29, 2009

I remember a priest doing a sermon on this song when I was in middle school. He was pretty upset about it, especially the "You Catholic girls start much too late,
It's better to laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints,
The sinners are much more fun" part.

The song is like the Andrew Marvell or JohnDunne poems. The speaker is trying to woo a girl into ...things.

Williebee · Apr 29, 2009

The bad may seem cool and fun to be with but that is only because they are high on something half the time. I'd personally rather spend my time with someone who is dull and boring, than someone who is as phony and fake as a three dollar bill that's been rolled up.

You have a daughter who reads these boards, don't you?

Worth noting that not everyone who lives "bad" is a fake and a phony. It doesn't even have to make them dishonest. There are real bad guys out there, too.

Kind of like:
What bugs me isn't that bad things happen to good people. It's that good things happen to bad ones.

benbradley · Apr 29, 2009

NeuroFizz said:
In partial answer to the original question, and I don't know if this has been mentioned upstream, see the lyrics to the song, "Abraham, Martin and John." Go here:

http://artists.letssingit.com/dion-lyrics-abraham-martin-and-john-wphd6kx

That's interesting, I heard that son on the radio when it was popular (not long after Martin's death), have heard it a few times since, and always heard that line as "it seems good they die young" and I never understood why it was good that they died young! Did anyone else hear it that way?

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dHvYB5JdSs
But then it didn't scare me nearly as bad as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8SfiCnwF28

But then to REALLY die young you have to be in rock'n'roll as were Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Cobain and many others who died under age 30.

rhymegirl · Apr 29, 2009

William Haskins said:
it means if you live past 18, you're a bad person.

Uh oh. I'm bad.

Guessing that way over 18 is REALLY BAD.

DL Hegel · Apr 29, 2009

rhymegirl said:
Uh oh. I'm bad.

Guessing that way over 18 is REALLY BAD.

bad is the new good.

benbradley · Apr 29, 2009

To the OP's question, I've always though it (much as in the Billy Joel song) means something similar to "No good deed goes unpunished," it's just another one of the ironies of life.

What's the expression mean: "Only the good die young" ?

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