Originally Posted by JBJFriendAlways

Obviously, they have themes that have run through their music in the past two decades:

*Optimism, Faith, and Believing
*Living Your Life on your own terms
*Love of Rock'n'Roll
*Religion (God, Sin, Prayer, Holy Ghost, Absolution, St. Christopher)
*Westerns and Gun Fighting
*Love Lost and Love Won

And this has kept us coming back time and time again.

Sometimes they reuse the same imagery:

BLINDED
--"I'm too blind to see" (Damned)
--"And cut my eyes so I can't see" (Cold Hard Heart)
--"But I'm driving blind, I'll lay it all on the line for you" (If That's What it Takes)
--"Thank you for loving me, for being my eyes when I couldn't see" (Thank You for Loving Me)
--"It took blind eyes to see" (Love Me Back to Life)
--"If you were blind you still could see, that she believes in me" (Lucky)

MISTAKES MEN MAKE (I always feels he puts women up on a pedestal)
--"I've made mistakes, I'm just a man" (Always)
--"Mistakes you know I've made a few" (All About Lovin' You)
--"I should have shut my mouth, things headed south, as the words slipped off my tongue, they sounded dumb" (Misunderstood)

BEING ALONE VS LONELY
--"You know I'm never alone but I'm feeling lonely tonight" (Little City)
--"Tonite I won't be alone, but you know that don't mean I'm not lonely" (Bed of Roses)

FADING TATTOOS
--"Like this old tattoo, I ain't shiny or new" (Save the World"
--"The night is fading like my old tattoo, a heart and a dagger that says 'Forever'" (Staring At Your Window)


COUNTING WORDS (What five words would you prefer ladies?)
--"And it's these three words that come to me, as I kiss this world good bye...Never Say Die" (Never Say Die)
--"I'll be there for you, These five words I swear to you" (I'll Be There for You)
--"All I've got to give to you, are these five words when I...thank you for loving me" (Thank You for Loving Me)

TOMMY and GINA (And we know this one was intentional)
--"Somebody tells me even Tommy's coming down tonight, If Gina says it's alright" (99 in the Shade)
--"This is for the ones who stood their ground, for Tommy and Gina who never backed down" (It's My Life)
--"Tommy used to work on the docks....Gina works the diner all day" (Livin' on a Prayer)

Sometimes they re-use the same words or phrases:

ROMEO
--"This Romeo is bleeding, but you can't see his blood" (Always)
--"You need someone to make it last, no Romeos who'll love and leave you fast" (Get Ready)
--"In a world that don't know Romeo and Juliet, boy meets girl and promises we can't forget" (I'd Die for You)

SUPERMAN
--"Superman don’t fly, they did it all with strings" (Say It Isn't So)
--"Holding hands, making big plans, Playing Superman, he was wearing eyeliner" (Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars"
--"Touch me like I touch you, Make me feel like superman" (Alive)

DIAMONDS
--"I might not send you roses, Or buy you diamond rings" (I'd Die for You)
--"I don't need no diamonds, I don't need no bride, I just need you, baby, To look me in the eye" (Living in Sin)
--"Diamond ring, wear it on your hand, It's gonna tell the world, I'm your only man" Diamond Ring

WHISKEY
--"A whiskey bottle comforts me" (Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin')
--"The hotel bar hangover whiskey's gone dry" (Bed of Roses)
--"The old man with the whiskey stains, lost the night, forgot his name" (Midnight in Chelsea)
--"You know those love letters mix with whiskey, just don't light a match when you kiss me" (Every Word Was a Piece of My Heart)
--That's a very, very small sampling (Vodka seems to be the other drink of choice)

DRIVE ALL NIGHT / RUN THE LIGHTS
--"I'd drive all night just to get back home" (Wanted Dead or Alive"
--"I should have drove all night, I would run all the lights" (Misunderstood)
--"I got a half tank of gas and if we run all the lights we'll slip across the border on the wrong side of right" (Right Side of Wrong)
--"I drove all night down streets that wouldn't bend, but somehow they drove me back here once again" ((It's Hard) Letting You Go)

BLUE SKIES
--"If you're ugly, I'm ugly too, in your eyes the sky's a different blue" (Ugly)
--"Now the sky, it shines a different kind of blue" ((It's Hard) Letting You Go)
--"When I look into your eyes, the sky's a different blue" (Thank You for Loving Me)
--"I bought you fancy cars and diamond rings, all the things that money brings, and the servants to paint the sky blue" (I Want You)

WORDS GETTING IN THE WAY
--"And if I never said I love you, it's cause the words got in the way" (Wedding Day)
--"If I ain't smart enough to say I'm sorry, it's just because the words got in the way" (Janie, Don't Take Your Love To Town)

Now don't get the impression that I don't like this. In fact, it's nice to hear the phrases or re-live the imagery from the past when I'm listening to more current songs.

Any others to add?