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.
Do you hear the jet plane yawning miles across the sky
Do you hear the garbage truck back down the boulevard
Setting off the car alarms as it passes by?
Do you hear the static of one thousand detuned radios?
Shut the window love
Keep the world outside
I don't want to think about any one
But the footsteps are getting louder
Drowning out the sound of the rain
As it knocks on the windowsill
I'm not answering the phone, let it ring
Lately I've been feeling like a falling bomb
The ground is getting closer
And the sky is falling down
This song has been brought to you by
This song has been brought to you by a falling bomb
A falling bomb
Do you hear the garbage truck back down the boulevard
Setting off the car alarms as it passes by?
Do you hear the static of one thousand detuned radios?
Shut the window love
Keep the world outside
I don't want to think about any one
But the footsteps are getting louder
Drowning out the sound of the rain
As it knocks on the windowsill
I'm not answering the phone, let it ring
Lately I've been feeling like a falling bomb
The ground is getting closer
And the sky is falling down
This song has been brought to you by
This song has been brought to you by a falling bomb
A falling bomb
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
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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 take no credit for the interpretation of this song, I found it on a website.
In this song, singer Geoff Rickly creates a sense of isolation from the world. We get this sense of isolation from the beginning, when we hear only a piano playing. In the first three lines, he notices small things that make him frustrated with the world. He finally breaks, and has had enough. He says "shut the window, love. Keep the world outside," to show that he no longer wants to be associated with the outside world. Soon, he finds out that it is extremely difficult to shut yourself off from the world. He loses unity with himself when he begins to notice the world again, and hears that "the footsteps are getting louder." He emphasizes their intensity by singing this line in a louder voice. This also shows that the footsteps have broken his concentration and that the outside world is pounding away at him - he can no longer even sing in the same manner. He cannot concentrate on anything to keep himself isolated anymore, such as the rain that "knocks on the windowsill." Despite this, he still attempts to stay free and look inward - by not answering the phone. In the following lines, he breaks a second time. The world has kept pounding away at him. He is now to the point of self destruction, as he becomes a "falling bomb." As he gets closer to the ground, closer to self destruction, the sky chases him. The closer that the sky, or the outside world, comes to him, the closer he is to self destruction. In the last lines, he examines himself. He shows us, and himself, that this is not his usual attitude. We knew that this was true from the beginning because the music played during this song is unusual. It is different from the music played in any other song the band has made. He has trouble referring to himself as "a falling bomb." He hesitates, and repeats the line "This song has been brought to you." Even when he does admit this attitude and his feelings to himself, he is still unsure. He whispers almost inaudibly when he says "by a falling bomb" and repeats it in disbelief of the reclusive person he has become.