Hangover
Kim Mitchell Lyrics


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(Music--Kim Mitchell/Lyrics--Pye DuBois)
Tomorrow don't be here today / take a cruise take a holiday
Cold morning and the drums / blue eyes in the window sun
See--I don't feel you but I know you're around
I can feel you cause I feel the sound
Cold morning and the drums / blue eyes in the window sun
Alka seltzer, tang and a 50 / it's all over / hangover
It's getting warmer
It's controlling my mind
It's coming closer
I'm biding my time
Double vision when the bars close down
Double vision when the bars close down
My legs are weak
Her arms are strong
The door is open
The stairs are steep
The room is near
But oh so far
The lights are round
But so are the stars--see




You got a hangover?
I got a hangover

Overall Meaning

The song Hangover by Kim Mitchell is a celebratory yet cautionary tale about the consequences of drinking and partying. The lyrics encourage listeners to forget about tomorrow and indulge in a vacation instead. The first verse paints the picture of a cold morning and the sound of drums beating in the background while blue eyes peep through a window. The chorus of the song tells the story of the aftermath of a wild night of partying, where the singer wakes up with a hangover and reaches for Alka-Seltzer, Tang, and a 50 to numb the pain.


The second verse describes the feeling of being controlled by the hangover, with the singer biding their time and waiting for it to pass. The bridge of the song introduces the concept of double vision, which can occur when drinking alcohol, making it hard to walk and navigate. The final verse describes a weak-legged narrator being supported by strong-armed companions as they attempt to make it up the steep stairs towards a beckoning room.


Overall, Hangover perfectly depicts the highs and lows of partying, with an upbeat tempo and catchy melody that belies the darker truths behind the lyrics.


Line by Line Meaning

Tomorrow don't be here today / take a cruise take a holiday
Don't think about tomorrow, just take a break from your routine and enjoy yourself


Cold morning and the drums / blue eyes in the window sun
A description of the scenery, with blue-eyed people looking out in the sun


See--I don't feel you but I know you're around
Although I can't see you, I believe you're here


I can feel you cause I feel the sound
I sense your presence because I can hear the music that you like


Alka seltzer, tang and a 50 / it's all over / hangover
Listing items that are supposed to cure a hangover, but acknowledging that it's still there


It's getting warmer
The atmosphere is getting more pleasant, things are looking up


It's controlling my mind
The hangover is affecting my ability to think clearly


It's coming closer
The symptoms of the hangover are getting stronger


I'm biding my time
I'm waiting for the hangover to pass


Double vision when the bars close down
Describing the visual distortion that can occur at the end of a night of drinking


My legs are weak / Her arms are strong
Feeling physically weak, while someone else is strong


The door is open / The stairs are steep / The room is near / But oh so far / The lights are round / But so are the stars--see
Saying that the bedroom is close, but feels far away, and that everything seems distorted


You got a hangover? / I got a hangover
Acknowledging that both people have hangovers




Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Nuthine Atholl

First heard this on LP in '76 while actually exceedingly hungover. On acid. Indescribably torturous tortuosity going on, just infinitely eternally omnipresent biomolecular hell, one of the worst seemingly-endless passages of diabolical time in my life. Was so desperate that I tried everything and anything on hand in the pantry, refrigerator, and bathroom medicine closet (I was alone in a stranger's house in the middle of the night -- don't ask) to see if it would help. Amazingly -- believe it or not -- I did indeed find a cure for hangover! I went from the worst hangover of my life to utter normality in about a minute; I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I'll share my breakthrough with Max Webster aficionados free gratis, 'cause you're My Kinda People, and because furthermore something tells me you're the Kinda People who from time to time may Imbibe To Excess, and then unfortunately live on in the soul-destroying throes of this calamity, with seemingly nothing short of suicide to avail your shattered mind's horror:
1. Lay in a stock of liquid choline chloride, or better yet liquid choline citrate (sold in health food stores, a bit pricey at around 35-40 U.S. bucks for a little bottle, but it's worth it when doom comes a-calling), or just happen to be in the house of someone who's a health nut;
2. Get utterly wrecked on booze as per usual, you sorry shambling decadent degenerate no-account sot;
3. Do not then proceed to take LSD on top of it, whatever you do. Are you out of your f'ing mind, for Christ's sake? You will be if you do drop acid now.
4. Descend to the pits of hell, following no-doubt well-established pathways.
5. At the crucial moment of near-death, swig several big healthy gulps of the liquid choline (tastes not unlike battery acid, alas, but at this point you can't be too finicky) which you've thoughtfully staged somewhere within your vicinity as per Step 1 (or be in some well-stocked health-nut's place, of course);
4. Allow a brief prayerful period of percolation through your ravaged system;
5. Arise from the ashes of your former self, a new man/woman/other, with a now-glorious future ahead of you.
I shit you not, this works; evidently alchohol cruelly drains your nervous system of the acetylcholine it needs to function in this reality; and as well, the potently vile effect of fusel oil (gratuitously added by the liquor industry expressly to induce nausea!) is somehow magically counteracted. Why isn't this simple remedy widely known? Think of all the human suffering that could be allayed. Every time a new-corner-turning drunk drinks choline, an angel gets its wings.
Cheers!



All comments from YouTube:

scott kellam

These guys played at my high-school in 1977. Brings back great memories!

Andrew Jackson

They played at mine as well Martingrove C.I. they were awesome. They played the next Saturday at Richview C.I. totally great . 3 months later Triumph played Martingrove . Do kids have anything like this anymore???. Glad I grew up in the 80's.

Old friend

Cool school!
If there ever was one.

John Girdwood

Seen them west hill collegiate 3.50 with SAC card 😂 great times

Harry T

Kim Mitchell is a guitar genius

Christian Frueh

Indeed...amazing.

Christian Frueh

🤪😎🍁👍viva la'canada

colin6768

Man - Gary McCracken sure as hell doesn't get the props he so richly deserves - one of the most underrated rock drummers of all time. Killer drumming - especially in this song.

Gumbly

Actually the drummer on the debut Max Webster album was Paul Kersey, though Gary McCracken did a fantastic job later on.

JC//DC

Yup and yup.

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