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.
My car broke down in Arizona
Have to ride the bus again
At ten-o-clock on Tuesday night
With thirteen cents and a broken pen
I put my backpack on the bench
Tell two people I don't smoke
See the cop across the street
He thinks that I am selling dope
I could have walked another block
To get away from the scene
Why does it always come to this
Where the zero meets the fifteen
So I gave my thirteen cents
To teh man who peed his pants
He passes out and falls on me
I watch my change fall from his hand
I see the lady next to me
Holds her baby black and blue
The junkie gutter-punks keep asking
Where i got my new tattoo
Why does it matter anyway
Thirteen cents or all I own
How can I ever save the world
On cup-o-soups and student loans
And I want to try and save the world
But it never goes that way
God I don't know what to do
Down at Colfax and Broadway
Now the man with no shoes on
Says I don't know how to play
He says I fumble all the time
he thinks that I am john elway
I put my face down in my hands
Water wells inside my eyes
What do I have to give them
What does it matter if i try
I can't stand to see you suffer
I try to intellectualize
A formula to end your pain
It doesn't work
God knows i've tried
And I want to try and save the world
But it never goes that way
God I don't know what to do
Down at Colfax and Broadway
Sometimes my cup is overfilled
Sometimes I'm too afraid
That I am going to spill
And I want to try and save the world
But it never goes that way
God I don't know what to do
Down at Colfax and Broadway
Have to ride the bus again
At ten-o-clock on Tuesday night
With thirteen cents and a broken pen
I put my backpack on the bench
Tell two people I don't smoke
See the cop across the street
He thinks that I am selling dope
I could have walked another block
To get away from the scene
Why does it always come to this
Where the zero meets the fifteen
So I gave my thirteen cents
To teh man who peed his pants
He passes out and falls on me
I watch my change fall from his hand
I see the lady next to me
Holds her baby black and blue
The junkie gutter-punks keep asking
Where i got my new tattoo
Why does it matter anyway
Thirteen cents or all I own
How can I ever save the world
On cup-o-soups and student loans
And I want to try and save the world
But it never goes that way
God I don't know what to do
Down at Colfax and Broadway
Now the man with no shoes on
Says I don't know how to play
He says I fumble all the time
he thinks that I am john elway
I put my face down in my hands
Water wells inside my eyes
What do I have to give them
What does it matter if i try
I can't stand to see you suffer
I try to intellectualize
A formula to end your pain
It doesn't work
God knows i've tried
And I want to try and save the world
But it never goes that way
God I don't know what to do
Down at Colfax and Broadway
Sometimes my cup is overfilled
Sometimes I'm too afraid
That I am going to spill
And I want to try and save the world
But it never goes that way
God I don't know what to do
Down at Colfax and Broadway
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by zehnra
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
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I've spent more of my young life living out in the boonies of terryall colorado... homeless and poverty was something that i knew.
but when i moved to denver for school - about the time i started listening to FiF - i was horrified at the cultural shock.
I actually catch the bus (the 6) at colfax and broadway. this song perfectly expresses how i feel sitting there every night . I don't think i've ever felt so small and unhelpful before... it seems that most of my schoolmates don't even bat an eye to these people...
even if the song can't tell me what to do, it at least lets me know that people do care, and are as lost as me. it's.... strangly encouraging to keep trying at least...
This song refers to Colfax and Broadway, an intersection in Denver, CO, where the 0 bus (Broadway) meets the 15 bus (Colfax). It's a very sketchy part of town, even though it's right near the capitol. Actually, most of both streets are sketchy, and Colfax especially is notorious for prostitution, drugs, gang warfare, and homelessness.
I just finished a year working with the homeless in Denver and really identify with the lines:
"How can I ever save the world, on cup-o-soup and student loans? I want to try and save the world, but it never goes that way. God I don’t know what to do, down at Colfax and Broadway."
My job there paid very poorly, as do most service jobs staffed by idealistic young people who are trying to save the world. And after an amount of time it really does seem like it "never goes that way."
I love this song cause I think everyone can relate at some point in their life, expecially Christians. I mean just listen to the lyrics "I want to try and save the world, but it never goes that way. God I don’t know what to do" or "What do I have to give them? Does it matter if I try? I can’t stand to see you suffer, I try to intellectualize, a formula to end you pain, it doesn’t work, God knows I’ve tried." We all try to help someone or bail people out and sometimes it just doesn't work. I love this song! FIF are brilliant!
Oh yeah, I can relate to that song. Especially to the part "How can I ever save the world, on cup-o-soup and student loans?" lol.
The point is that no matter how hard we try we can never fulfill what God has planned for us. We need to come to him with empty jars (like Elisha told the widow to do) and empty nets (like the disciples had) and he will fill them more then enough. The widow has enough money to pay off her debt and live the rest of her life and the disciples' nets broke. That's the point.
Come to God with an empty cup, not one that is half-ful and overfilled, one that will spill.