The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Have a friend, calls me up
Says hello, then hangs up
He must have read my mind
These are the days of a different paradigm
Maybe once, even twice
He said "God does not play dice"
Yet if he's everywhere
He's in casinos with aces to spare
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Ours is not to reason why
As we fall from way up high
Into the water
Like a lamb to the slaughter
Even now, God's mistake
Sets us up for one more heartbreak
God you look mighty fine
Dressed as the devil in a cosmic pantomime
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Never was so much at stake
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Says hello, then hangs up
He must have read my mind
These are the days of a different paradigm
Maybe once, even twice
He said "God does not play dice"
Yet if he's everywhere
He's in casinos with aces to spare
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Ours is not to reason why
As we fall from way up high
Into the water
Like a lamb to the slaughter
Even now, God's mistake
Sets us up for one more heartbreak
God you look mighty fine
Dressed as the devil in a cosmic pantomime
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Never was so much at stake
Oh, Love is God's mistake
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
IMO, the album "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" (RATKOS) is at least in part about Roland having or almost having an extramarital affair. He has admitted publicly that the album was recorded during a very trying time in his personal life that he refuses to give details about. (Please see my comments on several other RATKOS songs.) I believe Roland fell in love with another woman, and this song is about that "mistake" that "sets us up for one more heartbreak." The line "never was so much at stake" refers (IMO) to his marriage being at stake.
I believe Roland is in fact communicating the pain that love can bring.
The lines before, concerning his friend calling him and trying to make sense of something that Roland is going through (again, conjecture, but it makes sense)
Maybe once, even twice He said "God does not play dice" Yet if he's everywhere He's in casinos with aces to spare
If it isn't random, then God knows that it hurts, and likens him to a "devil in a cosmic pantomime"
I agree on so imagdoc's comment about so much at stake and it's meaning concerning his own marriage.
While I don't agree with Roland on his accusations, I do believe that love is what defines our choices. There is no real love without the opposite, it is meaningless without a genuine ability for us not love.
Without this choice, we are robots, and God didn't want robots, he wanted people who genuinely choose him rather than rejecting him.