Fullwood makes his music using various instruments, mainly bought from car boot sales.
Paint It Black
The Anvil Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and I want it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes
I want to see your face painted black, black as night
Don't want to see the sun flying high in the sky
I want to see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
The Anvil's song "Paint it Black" is a powerful and thought-provoking piece that explores the theme of darkness, both internal and external. The singer of the song is overwhelmed by a sense of nihilistic despair, wanting to see everything around them painted black. The first verse starts with the vivid image of a red door, a symbol of hope and warmth, and the singer's desire to have it painted black, signifying a complete lack of emotion and a sense of detachment from the world. The second line is even more biting, with the singer expressing their disdain for all other colors and their desire to see them obliterated.
The second verse takes on a more melancholic tone, with the singer mourning the loss of a loved one, more specifically referencing "flowers and my love both never to come back." This creates a contrast with the earlier lines of the song, which focused on a desire to obliterate all color from the world. This difference is crucial because it exposes the singer's internal contradiction, a yearning for love and color in their life, but also a need for darkness to mask their despair.
The final verse is a plea for a lover to paint their face black, indicating an attempt to escape reality and completely give themselves over to their despair. The yearning for darkness and the desire to be consumed by it is a powerful and poignant symbol of mental anguish.
Overall, "Paint it Black" is a haunting and powerful song that explores the theme of despair and the desire to be consumed by darkness.
Line by Line Meaning
I see a red door and I want it painted black
I see something that reminds me of something terrible, and I want it to be destroyed or hidden from sight.
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I don't want to see anything beautiful or happy anymore, I want everything to match my current mood, which is dark and negative.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I see people enjoying themselves and living their lives in a way that I can't relate to or feel a part of.
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I have to avoid looking at these people enjoying their lives because it reminds me of how unhappy I am and how disconnected I feel from the world.
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
I see a lot of people who are experiencing grief or sadness, and it's all around me all the time.
With flowers and my love both never to come back
People are mourning and bringing flowers to the place where someone they loved died or left, and it's a reminder to me that love and happiness can be fleeting and can disappear forever.
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
People don't want to engage with my sadness because it's uncomfortable and unpleasant to be around.
Like a new born baby it just happens every day
People are born into a world that can be cruel and doesn't care about their happiness, and this sadness is just a part of life that happens every day.
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I feel that I am a bad person or that there is something wrong with me, and that my unhappiness is a reflection of my own inner qualities.
I see my red door and I want it painted black
I am fixating on something that reminds me of my own pain or unhappiness, and I want it to be destroyed or hidden from sight so that I don't have to confront it.
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
Maybe if I can hide from everything that reminds me of my sadness or pain, I'll be able to ignore it and pretend it's not there, even though that's not a real solution to my problems.
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black
It's hard to confront my own sadness and problems when everything around me seems to be reinforcing those feelings and making them worse.
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I won't experience any more moments of happiness or contentment that might make me feel better or improve my mood.
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
I am experiencing something painful or difficult that I could not have predicted or expected, and it's making it hard for me to cope.
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
If I try really hard, I might be able to find moments of beauty or joy that can distract me from my sadness or pain.
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes
I have experienced love and happiness in the past and there is a possibility that I might be able to experience it again in the future, even if that seems impossible right now.
I want to see your face painted black, black as night
I want to destroy or hide everything that reminds me of my own sadness or pain, even if that means erasing the faces of the people I love from my memory or my life.
Don't want to see the sun flying high in the sky
I don't want to see anything beautiful or happy, because it only reminds me of how unhappy I am and how far away I am from experiencing those things myself.
I want to see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
I want everything that reminds me of my own sadness or pain to be destroyed or hidden from sight, so that I can pretend it doesn't exist and not have to confront it.
Lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc.
Written by: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Vade retro
Better than the original for me ... Thank's Anvil 🤘
Bjørn K Hagen
yepp this and w.a,s,p version :)
johnny Begood 2
Excellent Version by Anvil !!!!
George M
The best Paint it Black cover ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤘
sudicalwig
Fantastic cover!
GellyVelly
How is there not a mash up of this and Priest's cover of "Diamonds and Rust"?! SOMEONE DO THIS!! Ya'll can hear that right?
60BloodyChamp60
The best mash up/remix of this is the intro to an 80s TV show called Tour of Duty. It’s an edited version of the original set to a video of bombs, helicopters and all kinds of cool stuff.
GellyVelly
@60BloodyChamp60 sounds badass, ill look it up.
P J Ostschinken
One of greatest album's, with over 4000 CDs and LP's it's right up their, fucking magic 🤘🤘🤘🇬🇧🇬🇧
60BloodyChamp60
This song hasn’t been hit just right by a metal cover yet, though many have tried. This isn’t bad and I love Anvil but this song should be covered perfectly somehow like Metallica Covered Am I Evil, Motley Crue covered Helter Skelter etc.