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.
Cut, dissected from within
Like clockwork run the cells
An unearthly silent din
A constant toll of bells
Mocking laughter evermore
No sight of a refrain
Waiting on my lonely quest
Asylum of the brain
Brain
The darkest caverns of my mind
Hold terrors so consuming
Look within and soon you'll find
Your psyche I'm subsuming
More than flesh and blood can bear
Ensnared within my brain
Eyes in fear, eyes in terror
Adversity is pain
Adversity is pain
Pain...
Within the faculty of fools
Leering warders, intimidation
Playing games at all my rules
Is feeding their frustration
The blood inside my temples pulsing
While I'm locked away
Thoughts within my head convulsing
For the time my captors pay
Stop the torment, cut me loose
Unbind me from my chains
Before my eyes a veil of mist
Encompassing and grey
Once again
Momentarily free of pain
Pain...
Pain...
Pain...
Stop the pain and rip me open
Tear out my tormentors
Release me from agony
Blinding my nerve centres
Only known emotions
Are the anger and the sadness
Overshadowed totally by
Unrevokable madness
Held inside this sterile box
My thoughts turn now to charnel
Fantasise, yet I remain
Still locked inside eternal
I'll not escape but I will wait
Patience will run true
Visitation you will see
This madness is in you
Like clockwork run the cells
An unearthly silent din
A constant toll of bells
Mocking laughter evermore
No sight of a refrain
Waiting on my lonely quest
Asylum of the brain
Brain
The darkest caverns of my mind
Hold terrors so consuming
Look within and soon you'll find
Your psyche I'm subsuming
More than flesh and blood can bear
Ensnared within my brain
Eyes in fear, eyes in terror
Adversity is pain
Adversity is pain
Pain...
Within the faculty of fools
Leering warders, intimidation
Playing games at all my rules
Is feeding their frustration
The blood inside my temples pulsing
While I'm locked away
Thoughts within my head convulsing
For the time my captors pay
Stop the torment, cut me loose
Unbind me from my chains
Before my eyes a veil of mist
Encompassing and grey
Once again
Momentarily free of pain
Pain...
Pain...
Pain...
Stop the pain and rip me open
Tear out my tormentors
Release me from agony
Blinding my nerve centres
Only known emotions
Are the anger and the sadness
Overshadowed totally by
Unrevokable madness
Held inside this sterile box
My thoughts turn now to charnel
Fantasise, yet I remain
Still locked inside eternal
I'll not escape but I will wait
Patience will run true
Visitation you will see
This madness is in you
Lyrics submitted by ruben
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
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
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.