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.
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big and bad Bodacious takes a toll from those who ride
Bodacious here am a whole lotta bull, over nineteen hundred pounds
He's born in Goltry, Oklahoma, and he's the badded sonsabitch around
If a Burma bull ever were a superstar, then Bodacious just might be
He's a cream-colored, beefy brawn, full-fledged
Four-footed bovine celebrity
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big and bad Bodacious takes a toll from those who ride
Young Bo met a man named Tuff Hedeman at the start of his buckin' spree
And Tuff became one of the few
To make the whistle back in nineteen ninety-three
Tuff tried to ride Bo again at the finals in nineteen ninety-five
Bodacious had got a little older and wiser
Tuff barely came out alive
Bodacious here am a whole lotta bull, over nineteen hundred pounds
He's born in Goltry, Oklahoma, and he's the badded sonsabitch around
If a Burma bull ever were a superstar, then Bodacious just might be
He's a cream-colored, beefy brawn, full-fledged superstar
Bovine celebrity
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big and bad Bodacious takes a toll from those who ride
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big, badass Bodacious will take a hunk out of your pride
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big and bad Bodacious takes a toll from those who ride
Bodacious here am a whole lotta bull, over nineteen hundred pounds
He's born in Goltry, Oklahoma, and he's the badded sonsabitch around
If a Burma bull ever were a superstar, then Bodacious just might be
He's a cream-colored, beefy brawn, full-fledged
Four-footed bovine celebrity
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big and bad Bodacious takes a toll from those who ride
Young Bo met a man named Tuff Hedeman at the start of his buckin' spree
And Tuff became one of the few
To make the whistle back in nineteen ninety-three
Tuff tried to ride Bo again at the finals in nineteen ninety-five
Bodacious had got a little older and wiser
Tuff barely came out alive
Bodacious here am a whole lotta bull, over nineteen hundred pounds
He's born in Goltry, Oklahoma, and he's the badded sonsabitch around
If a Burma bull ever were a superstar, then Bodacious just might be
He's a cream-colored, beefy brawn, full-fledged superstar
Bovine celebrity
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big and bad Bodacious takes a toll from those who ride
Who's gonna ride Bodacious? Who's gonna tame him down?
Look out for Bodacious, he's bound to hold his ground
Here comes Bodacious, ya'll just step aside
Big, badass Bodacious will take a hunk out of your pride
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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.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
Bodacious the Bull (1988? - May 16, 2000), originally designated J31, was a crossbred Charbray bull who was infamous throughout the sport of rodeo, and was commonly referred to as "The World's Most Dangerous Bull". The 1800-lb bull, known for his characteristic coloring as the "White Whale", made unanticipated moves that rodeo athletes were not accustomed to and were defenseless to protect against. Only six cowboys were able to complete their rides in 135 attempts. He was voted the PBR Bull of the Year in 1995.
It was suggested that Bodacious had gotten stronger and trickier as he matured after, in 1994, he gained national attention at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, employing his signature head snapping move that resulted in life threatening injuries to bull riding star Terry Don West. Tuff Hedeman was one of the few to stay on Bodacious for a full eight seconds. But, in 1995 Hedeman witnessed the brutal nature of "Bo" first hand when he suffered a major face smashing, and required emergency reconstructive surgery after a vicious encounter with Bodacious at the Professional Bull Riders Finals. Hedeman drew the bull again at the National Finals Rodeo in 1995, and opted not to ride him, calling Bodacious "the baddest bull there has ever been." In the same event, Scott Breding sustained serious injuries and became the last cowboy to attempt a ride on Bodacious.
Bodacious was retired on December 11, 1995, at the age of 7, still in his prime