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.
Well oh well I feel I'm in decay
John Laws is on the air again
It's heavy traffic, jacarandas, eye in the sky and foot on ground
I see a million sand speck'd ants in mortal combat hand to hand
And I feel that I
Yes I feel that I
Seem to live this life long distance
Gaze at the things surround me
People rolling in and out
Those circles and tides confound me
And there's just one thing
Yes there's just one thing
Who can stand in the way
When there's a dollar to be made?
I was hanging round off Dobroyd Point
When the first fleet chain sailed in
Looked into the clearest blue
The scurvy smell, the convicts cry
And we just carried on,
Yes we just carried on
Now choppers strafe the supermarket sky
And people wonder why
Chopping down tons of trees
Got seas of print not a soul can read say
Why do I drown you build brick boxes
One by one now they block my sun
But it's metal on metal
It's the dance of TV
If Christ were here he'd camera check
He'd cry so loud the planes would stop
He'd cry so loud the earth would shake
And men would fall in tinsel town
There's just one thing
Yes there's just one thing...
Who can stand in the way
When there's a dollar to be made?
Precious moments, precious few
When that dollar's more than me and you
It's the joy of forgetting,
Such a joy to forget
But we killed all our firstborn
And we slashed and we burned
And we sold off the paddocks
And we raped and we gouged
On the wings of a six-pack
Will we ever learn?
John Laws is on the air again
It's heavy traffic, jacarandas, eye in the sky and foot on ground
I see a million sand speck'd ants in mortal combat hand to hand
And I feel that I
Yes I feel that I
Seem to live this life long distance
Gaze at the things surround me
People rolling in and out
Those circles and tides confound me
And there's just one thing
Yes there's just one thing
Who can stand in the way
When there's a dollar to be made?
I was hanging round off Dobroyd Point
When the first fleet chain sailed in
Looked into the clearest blue
The scurvy smell, the convicts cry
And we just carried on,
Yes we just carried on
Now choppers strafe the supermarket sky
And people wonder why
Chopping down tons of trees
Got seas of print not a soul can read say
Why do I drown you build brick boxes
One by one now they block my sun
But it's metal on metal
It's the dance of TV
If Christ were here he'd camera check
He'd cry so loud the planes would stop
He'd cry so loud the earth would shake
And men would fall in tinsel town
There's just one thing
Yes there's just one thing...
Who can stand in the way
When there's a dollar to be made?
Precious moments, precious few
When that dollar's more than me and you
It's the joy of forgetting,
Such a joy to forget
But we killed all our firstborn
And we slashed and we burned
And we sold off the paddocks
And we raped and we gouged
On the wings of a six-pack
Will we ever learn?
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There's a spoken bit that goes at the end of this song:
When the spinifex hit Sydney, it was the last thing we expected When the desert reached the glades, but we tried to tame it And when the emus grazed at Pyrmont, it suddenly dawned on us all Hah, finally the world was silent and the door was shut.
Does anyone have any idea what this song is about? I mean I get, in a general sense that it's about uncontrolled development and greed, but some of this is localized to Australia that I can't make sense of the specifics.
I think I get the 'emus' line. Pyrmont in the New South Wales during the 80's was an economically depressed area with only around 900 people living there at the time. As in Detroit, or the area around Chernobyl, Nature had started to reclaim the land.
Is the point here that Man cannot tame the untamable, or if He does, he can only do it for a very short time? Are they pointing out our quest to control Nature is pointless?
And yet... Even if that's true, what's the alternative?
Hirst and Garrett seem to have a very low opinion of humanity, in general. And while it's great to point out the flaws, I don't see a whole lot of hope here. Being critical is easy, fixing the problem... That's harder.
@ctlizyrd <br /> Where are you from? Glades is actually Gladesville in Sydney, and Pyrmont is closer to the city centre. It is about the encroaching environmental degradation of our surrounds.