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.
You're only happy when you're sad
You're top fueled and you're bad
Parachute in your back pack and
Your knees under your chin
And your boyfriend's getting mad
At all the time you waste
Trying to put your finger on it
The allure of St. Marks place
On the drag, on the drag
You're all waiting 'round for something
And it's never coming back
On the drag, on the drag
It's a genuine disaster
And it's come to make you king
On the drag
"I won't die until I'm dead,"
Are the first words that he said
Don't try to interrupt him,
'Cause he's never gonna stop
And the time is standing still
With all this time to kill
And I'm trying to walk away
From 1st Avenue to A
On the drag, on the drag
It's a genuine disaster
And we've crowned him with his crown
On the drag, on the drag
We're all waiting 'round for something
And it's never coming back
On the drag, on the drag
We're all waiting 'round for something
And it's never coming back
On the drag, on the drag
We're all waiting for disaster
And we crowned him with his crown
On the drag
You're top fueled and you're bad
Parachute in your back pack and
Your knees under your chin
And your boyfriend's getting mad
At all the time you waste
Trying to put your finger on it
The allure of St. Marks place
On the drag, on the drag
You're all waiting 'round for something
And it's never coming back
On the drag, on the drag
It's a genuine disaster
And it's come to make you king
On the drag
"I won't die until I'm dead,"
Are the first words that he said
Don't try to interrupt him,
'Cause he's never gonna stop
And the time is standing still
With all this time to kill
And I'm trying to walk away
From 1st Avenue to A
On the drag, on the drag
It's a genuine disaster
And we've crowned him with his crown
On the drag, on the drag
We're all waiting 'round for something
And it's never coming back
On the drag, on the drag
We're all waiting 'round for something
And it's never coming back
On the drag, on the drag
We're all waiting for disaster
And we crowned him with his crown
On the drag
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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"
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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.
Plastic Bag
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“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.
The lyrics are out of order, and a little wrong (at least compared to the "They Got Lost" version; but there might be multiple versions).
The song's about a group of teens/posers trying to relive the 1970's punk scene of New York. The "drag" is St. Mark's Place (which is mentioned), a street that was a breeding ground for punks (and other artist) during the 70's. But they obviously can't relive or revive the scene and they don't seem understand "punk" anyways.
The leader of the group is seemingly very dedicated or delusional but completely misguided and foolish (which is where you get the asinine opening statement: "I won't die until I'm dead"). He's also may be conceded and pompous (Don't try to interrupt him, Cause he's never going to stop).
They try to recreate the scene but they end up just being bored and wasting their time. The narrator, who has become fed up, realizes the hypocrisy of their situation. He understands the group's leader is perhaps the most oblivious to their failure to become punk (he calls the leader a disaster and says he is the "king" which is a punk contradiction).
They don't understand the ideology surrounding the punk movement, so they are just trying to experience the elements of punk rock by acting/dressing like punks, getting drunk and contemplating things like "the allure of St. Mark's Place."
The narrator decides he wants out (As I try to walk away, From 1st Avenue to A).
The "time is standing still" line and references to time in general might be reiterating that they are unable to relive the past glory of punk. It might also be saying the group is stuck in a phase, and they as long as they try to be punk they can't mature.
By chance I heard I did hear the alternate version of this song so there is no problem with these lyrics.