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.
See them over there
See them moving down the road
Their arms held out ahead
And their eyes, their eyes are closed
Don't make any noise, cry out loud, or stamp your feet
You'll wake the girls and boys who are walking in their sleep
Every night they throw aside their blankets
Swing their feet down, stand up, and move out to the street
Like they're under a spell and together they roam across the country
And they're walking in their sleep
You'll recognize them when you see their rumpled hair and stocking feet
It seems like they want something but we don't know what it is
But here they come again
Yes here they come again
Move aside and let the people go by
They don't see you thinking that they're home in their beds
They must not be disturbed when they're wandering all across the country
And they're walking in their sleep
Perhaps when they awake they'll remember everything
They'll think it was a dream
It will be forgotten then
But don't make any noise, cry out loud, or stamp your feet
You'll wake the girls and boys who are walking in their sleep
See them moving down the road
Their arms held out ahead
And their eyes, their eyes are closed
Don't make any noise, cry out loud, or stamp your feet
You'll wake the girls and boys who are walking in their sleep
Every night they throw aside their blankets
Swing their feet down, stand up, and move out to the street
Like they're under a spell and together they roam across the country
And they're walking in their sleep
You'll recognize them when you see their rumpled hair and stocking feet
It seems like they want something but we don't know what it is
But here they come again
Yes here they come again
Move aside and let the people go by
They don't see you thinking that they're home in their beds
They must not be disturbed when they're wandering all across the country
And they're walking in their sleep
Perhaps when they awake they'll remember everything
They'll think it was a dream
It will be forgotten then
But don't make any noise, cry out loud, or stamp your feet
You'll wake the girls and boys who are walking in their sleep
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"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.
No Surprises
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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.
Head > Heels
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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.
I reckon it's a subtle criticism of US politics in the Bush Jr era, specifically post-9/11. The sleepwalkers are the ones who are just going along with the rapid changes and dereliction of rights, while those who are angry at the changes are the ones being ironically warned not to "cry out loud" or "stamp your feet".
A couple of things support this (in my view):
He sings "Let the people go by", which reminds me strongly of the line "Let the people crawl inside" in their much older, political song 'We Want a Rock'.
The sleepwalkers are found "all across the country"...
"Perhaps when they awake they'll remember everything / They'll think it was a dream, it'll be forgotten then" is a criticism of the way people are quick to forget past transgressions when it's their political party involved.
I think this song is about how people get into a routine and do the same thing day after day without thinking. They are, in essence, sleepwalking. The song is sung from the perspective of someone that has either broken from the routine or was never entrapped in this sleeplike state at all.
"see them moving down the road": I imagine a bunch of people in their cars during rush hour "their arms held out ahead": to hold the steering wheel.
The narrator ponders what would happen if you would "wake" them AKA point out the trite nature of their actions to them. Perhaps they will say "Man, what a waste of my life", but the narrator is quick to remind us not to wake them, maybe because the narrator wants to keep the exclusive quality of consciousness. Either that, or it's just about people sleepwalking.
I think this song is about the dream-state of childhood. It is transient and the narrator, an adult, fears that the others will wake them from this phenomenon of almost blind innocence.
Of course, that routine thing previously stated is pretty interesting too...