Tell No Tales
T.N.T. Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Out of trouble
For the moment
We live day by day
No more hunters
Out of season
They won't have their way

It's only your life my friends
Only a game

Tell no tales
Tell no tales
Tell no tales
Tell no tales

In abundance
Words come running
With thoughts so confused
Burn the candle
Down at both ends
A life so abused

It's only your life my friends
Only a game

Tell no tales
Tell no tales
Tell no tales
Tell no tales

Solo

It's only your life my friends
Only a game

Tell no tales
Tell no tales




Tell no tales
Tell no tales

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to T.N.T.'s "Tell No Tales" seem to be about living life with caution, and in secrecy. The song begins by referencing trouble, however, the singer notes that they are currently out of it--at least for the moment. They live day by day and do not want to be caught by hunters. The hunters are out of season, meaning that they are not wanted right now. The singer wants to make sure that they do not come back and take over their life. The second verse talks about words coming in abundance, but they are confused. The singer seems to be burning the candle at both ends and living a life that has been abused. In both verses, the singer reminds us that it is only a game and that we should not tell any tales.


The chorus repeats the phrase "Tell no tales" four times. The phrase seems to be a warning to keep quiet and not reveal too much. The song is very repetitive, with only one solo break in the middle. The solo break, however, might be a signal that there is more going on than meets the eye. Perhaps the soloist is revealing more than the singer wants to let on. Overall, the lyrics are fairly straightforward in meaning, but the song seems to contain hidden messages.


Line by Line Meaning

Out of trouble
We are currently not in any kind of trouble or danger


For the moment
This state of being out of trouble may be temporary


We live day by day
We are taking life one day at a time, not worrying too much about the future


No more hunters
We have escaped from those who were hunting us, and are no longer being pursued


Out of season
The hunters' time to catch us has passed; they are now unable to find us


They won't have their way
The hunters will not be able to achieve what they wanted, which was to catch us


It's only your life my friends
Our lives are the only ones that matter, not anyone else's. We should live them the way we want


Only a game
Life is like a game, and we should not take it too seriously. We should enjoy it while we can


Tell no tales
We should not reveal too much about our lives or what we have done, as this could cause trouble for us in the future


In abundance
We have an excess of something, which in this case is words


Words come running
We have a lot of things to say, but are struggling to express them properly due to confusion


With thoughts so confused
Our thoughts are jumbled and unclear, making it difficult for us to communicate effectively


Burn the candle
We are working hard, possibly to the point of exhaustion or burning out


Down at both ends
We are working too hard and not taking enough rest, leading to a sense of fatigue and depletion


A life so abused
Our lives have been mistreated or mishandled, perhaps due to the way we have been living them


Solo
An instrumental section of the song, with no lyrics




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MORTON DAHL, ROLF LETEKRO, TONY HARNELL

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

김용일

This here is a
「★Nothing ♩=YourMusic&AC/DCAndAndAnd★」Too Many.
Okay .「Later」 Thank you .good music .
And My Cash is a Not Enough
And Wating singer 「TooMany」
Phone Pay & internetpay& Eatpay&Buspay
Example) Everyday Austria Gay777 & Shouting My Heart?/HaHaHaHa
Almost That is a vulva'es Life.
And so At that time fucking pay .
We are 「you want」^&



All comments from YouTube:

V3ntilator

My favourite TNT song. There is only one bad thing with song. Its far too short.

V3ntilator

@MetalMike87 Simple, but Ask Dave Lombardo (Slayer) or Gene Hogland (Testament) about this song. The drummer in TNT is only a Hells Angels drummer. Give him a break. Hells Angels prefer Justin Bieber drums.

V3ntilator

@MetalMike87 Dahl is more like a old school Power drummer than a Power Metal drummer. He don't play the drums on this song originally either way. All i know is that Tekro easily can play the guitar live any time as he plays better now as of 2020 than he ever did.

MetalMike87

@V3ntilator Man, it's impossible to know for sure the hows and whys a song isn't played live unless you're in the band.
From my point of view, drums are pretty basic, but yeah, if Dahl can't (doesn't want to) there's little for us to do (assuming he's the one having problems playing this stuff)

V3ntilator

@MetalMike87 All i know 100% for sure, one in the band is unable to play this song live and it's not Tekro. One of my best friends is also one of the best friends with Tekro in TNT. He said one in the band, but not who. When that's said, i'm going to a private concert party again at Ronnie Le Tekro's home in 2 weeks. ;) Been there a few times before.

MetalMike87

@V3ntilator fair. But any power-metal drummer can do this pattern. No need to disturb someone as technical as Hellhammer for this kinda stuff

5 More Replies...

The1WhoKnowsTheTruth

This was when Tony was still in his prime and fresh off the Knights of the New Thunder era.  He was so deadly and untouchable at this point in time.  I saw them in a shithole bar in upstate NY around this time and they killed this live as well as all my favorite stuff from KOTNT (Break the Ice, Eddie, Last Summers Evil).  Tony and Ronni even pulled out "Harley Davidson" that night from the very early days. Tony is still a killer singer today in his mid 50's, but his high's have noticeably diminished (fact of life).

Phil John

One of THE greatest rock songs of all time … I saw the lads doing this up close at the marquee in London in the late 80s and I was completely blown away and still am to this day .. when Im feeling down or pissed off I put this on to make me feel like a fucking GOD!

cecilia her

Amazing vocals

Parris Vincenzo Stefanow

Such a GREAT Album!!!!!!! I seen these guys live in 1987 with Stryper and Loudness!!!!! Great Times!!!!

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