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.
The city has sex with itself, I suppose
As the concrete collides, the scenery grows
And the lonely once bandaged lay fully exposed
Having undressed their wounds for each other
And there is a boy in a basement with a four track machine
He's been strumming and screaming all night, down there
The tape hiss will cover the words that he sings
But then they say it's better to bury your sadness
In a graveyard or garden that waits for the spring
To awake from its sleep and burst into green
And I've cried and you would think I would better for it
But the sadness just sleeps and it stays in your spine
For the rest of your life
And I've learned and you'd think I'd be something more now
But it just goes to show it is not what you know
It's what you were thinking at the time.
This feeling's familiar, I've been here before
In a kitchen this quiet I waited for a sign or just something
That might reassure me of anything close to meaning or motion
(With a reason to move)
I need something I want to be close to
And I scream, but I still don't know why I do it
Because the sound never stays, it just swells and decays
So what is the point?
Why try to fight what is now so certain?
The truth is all that I am is a passing event that will be forgotten
As the concrete collides, the scenery grows
And the lonely once bandaged lay fully exposed
Having undressed their wounds for each other
And there is a boy in a basement with a four track machine
He's been strumming and screaming all night, down there
The tape hiss will cover the words that he sings
But then they say it's better to bury your sadness
In a graveyard or garden that waits for the spring
To awake from its sleep and burst into green
And I've cried and you would think I would better for it
But the sadness just sleeps and it stays in your spine
For the rest of your life
And I've learned and you'd think I'd be something more now
But it just goes to show it is not what you know
It's what you were thinking at the time.
This feeling's familiar, I've been here before
In a kitchen this quiet I waited for a sign or just something
That might reassure me of anything close to meaning or motion
(With a reason to move)
I need something I want to be close to
And I scream, but I still don't know why I do it
Because the sound never stays, it just swells and decays
So what is the point?
Why try to fight what is now so certain?
The truth is all that I am is a passing event that will be forgotten
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
this song rules, bright is cooler than anyone