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.
Ten score years ago, defeat the kingly foe
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste, no virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes, but never seeing
Beneath the noble birth
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once, with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?
Watch the cities rise
Another ship arrives
Earth's melting pot and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true
Inventing something new
The greatest minds, and never knowing
The guns replace the plow, facades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dream's gone stale, but still, let hope prevail
History's debt won't be repaid
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste, no virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes, but never seeing
Beneath the noble birth
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once, with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?
Watch the cities rise
Another ship arrives
Earth's melting pot and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true
Inventing something new
The greatest minds, and never knowing
The guns replace the plow, facades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dream's gone stale, but still, let hope prevail
History's debt won't be repaid
Lyrics submitted by shed27, edited by digitalman
Beneath, Between & Behind Lyrics as written by Alex Zivojinovich Neil Elwood Peart
Lyrics © Anthem Entertainment
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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About the noble founding of the United States but then the corruption that soon followed
Peart wrote lyrics about the Military Industrial Complex better than anyone could hope to. He stays fairly vague but brings it all together at the end and once again speaks of the hope that it wont come back to bite us. <br /> Also, they left out the entire second verse. <br /> <br /> Watch the cities rise<br /> Another ship arrives<br /> Earths melting pot and ever growing<br /> Fantastic dreams come true<br /> Inventing something new<br /> The greatest minds, and never knowing...
The first line of the chorus is "Beneath the noble bird", not "birth". The reference is to the bald eagle.
exactly right--none of my friends believe that the could go U2 on us though.
fail to see how rush could "go u2" when those irish pretentious clowns formed long after rush.
cracks* appear #typo
Bird not birth. They would have had a field day with this song now given the tool in office now. Nixon was a Saint compared to this malignant narcissist.