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.
Say hello to the rug's topography
It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it
Say hello to the shrinking in your head
You can't see it but you know its there so don't neglect it
I'm taking her home with me all dressed in white
She's got everything I need pharmacy keys
She's falling hard for me I can see it in her eyes
She acts just like a nurse with all the other guys
Say hello to all the apples on the ground
They were once in your eyes but you sneezed them out while sleeping
Say hello to everything you've left behind
It's even more a part of your life now that you can't touch it
I'm taking her home with me all dressed in white
She's got everything I need some pills in a little cup
She's falling hard for me I can see it in her eyes
She acts just like a nurse with all the other guys
Say hello to the rugs topography...
It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it
Say hello to the shrinking in your head
You can't see it but you know its there so don't neglect it
I'm taking her home with me all dressed in white
She's got everything I need pharmacy keys
She's falling hard for me I can see it in her eyes
She acts just like a nurse with all the other guys
Say hello to all the apples on the ground
They were once in your eyes but you sneezed them out while sleeping
Say hello to everything you've left behind
It's even more a part of your life now that you can't touch it
I'm taking her home with me all dressed in white
She's got everything I need some pills in a little cup
She's falling hard for me I can see it in her eyes
She acts just like a nurse with all the other guys
Say hello to the rugs topography...
Lyrics submitted by prayingmantis84
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
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Well, I can't say this is one of my favorites off of Thirteenth Step, but it has definately grown on me. I basically see it as a playful song sung from the perspective of a patient in a mental institution or rehab. He's convinced one of the nurses is "falling for him." She's perfect for him (pharmacy keys, pills-- what more could a crazy man could ask for!?) He believes she only gives him the special attention, and just acts like a regular nurse towards the other patients. Cuz hey, he's special :)
ok in a mental instituion they give you drugs, like lithium and stuff like that....anti depressants. cuz you are there for a messed up reason. in this case, the man think the nurse has a crush on him because his head is all screwed up on those pills
everyone's entitled to their opinion, but some rly make it more complicated than it is. reading things like 'the rug is a vagina', i mean, come on.
also, the nurse as a drug metaphor seems poetically invalid. this lyric doesnt seem to contain an extended metaphor. take the sentence "she's got everything; i need pharmacy keys". 'she' would mean 'drug'. ok, but then he sais she, the drug, has 'pharmacy keys', which cant rly be a metaphor for something i think. so basically, than would be saying 'the drug has pharmacy keys'. makes no sense.
i think its simple. the verses are the nurse talking, basically waking a patient up ("say hello to...") to start his day, uselessly spent by studying the carpet etc (rug's topography) due to the patient being kinda fucked up still, in rehab prolly. the apples on the ground he sneezed out, are the bad desires (adam and eve reference) he lost now that he's being treated. theyre not in his eyes anymore ie he doesnt chase it anylonger.
the choruses are the patient himself; his illusion the nurse rly loves him because she takes care of him, because hes fuckd in the head still. thats why the music is dreamy, and somewhat childish, walt disney like. cause he's on the level of a child again due to the drugs fuckin him up, full of imagination.
great stuff.
@Lupi You're definitely overthinking this too. "apple of my eye" is an expression. It means something you cherish. The part about apples is obviously a play on words. I have no idea how you got an Adam and Eve reference out of that, or that the apples are somehow bad desires.<br /> <br /> Also, the music being dreamy is just how APC made it. This is a cover of a grunge rock song from the 90s that definitely does not have a dreamy feel. So you can just throw all the stuff you said about them being like a child out the window.<br /> <br /> I think this song is obviously about the Florence Nightingale effect where patients fall in love with their nurse, as well as addiction to painkillers.<br /> <br /> And it seems like it's about someone in a mental institution too. The "shrinking in your head" is probably referencing psychiatry(shrinks), and having your face down on the rug is probably referencing being forcefully subdued.
Ever since I heard 13th Step for the first time this song always stood out to me, not sure why I guess because i've never really heard anything like it....anyways I always thought this song was about a delusional patient who falls in love with a nurse who he thinks is flirting with him and being nice when she's just being a nurse.
This is definately my least favourite song off 13th Step. Its actualy a cover of a song by failure - a band Tool once toured with and once contained Troy Van Leeuwen (now in APC) - so i guess thats why.
I think you guys pretty much got the meaning. continuing addiction theme, nurse = drug/supplier of drugs, refers to it as "nurse" as hes kidding himself to thinking that he needs the drugs or that theyre doing him good. i guess lost apples = lost innocence ("apple of my eye") or the temptation of anything else but the drugs (apple analogy from Genesis). "face down" on the rug, "shrinking in your head" = consequences of addiction?
As its a cover, i think it was added just cos it fit with the albums concept, rather than having been written to further the albums meaning, if you see what i mean. what you guys reckon?
Head-shrinking... makes me think psychiatry.
ive tried to analyse the meaning of this for so long. and i have suffered from addiction to heroin and whatever the fuck else is around. you are enpointe.
I love this song! The music is just beautiful...i dont know why all of you hate this song so much. Dont be hatin'!!
I think it's a great song. Maybe it's just as simple as it sounds. That he has fallen for a nurse. And maybe she acts like a nurse with all the other guys by "playing doctor". You shouldn't say anything bad about this song. It is very beautiful and touching.
i like the idea about it beeing about drugs . nurse = drugs how is a kinda help . the person how sings i think sufers from different psychic problems . "Say hello to everything you've left behind " getting on the streets with drugs abuse and no ones carring about you when you get there . evry one leaves you . thats why he hav find the nurse (drugs) to provide him with happiness .
Say hello to the rug's topography It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it
I guess I'm the only one who reads this as an oral sex reference... rug-munching? Getting your face down on it? YES PLZ!!
hi. this song was written by failure, not APC. and it's about herion. it just is.
@kcme28 Thank you
Written from the perspective of a male patient in a mental hospital. He is deluded that a nurse loves him. He sometimes speaks in the second person--possibly emotionally easier for him; sometimes he speaks in the first person.
The music is whimsical, and beautifully orchestrated. String parts, tones, oboes, bird-like sounds, and vocals are lovely. Some of the lyrics, when taken out of the overall context of the song are also rather ethereal: "I'm taking her home with me, all dressed in white. She's got everything I need..."; "Say hello to all the apples on the ground. They were once in your eyes, but you sneezed them out while sleeping."; "Say hello to the rugs topography. It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it." The sonic veneer makes some of the lyrics seem playful and enchanting. But, the song's overall meaning has deeper and much darker overtones. The beautiful sound may be a mockery and simultaneously a mimicry of the meaningful disturbance beneath it.
Possible general themes include: mental illness, drug dependence, delusion, confinement, a great sense of loss and hopelessness.
There are some good plays on words: "Shrinking in your head" evokes the "head-shrinking" performed by a psychiatrist. It could also represent a sensation the patient experiences while in the psych. ward due to drugs and environment.
"..taking her home...all dressed in white" - Nurse wears white; a bride wears white.
"apples..once in your eyes" - evokes 'apple(s) of one's eye' or those that one holds especially dear.
As some other interpreters have indicated, the patient confuses the professional care of the nurse as romantic love (delusional belief). He also confuses "pharmacy keys" and "pills in a little cup" as "everything he needs." That is to say, all that he needs for love. His love is based on a need for drugs/medication and imagined intimacy.
It seems unlikely that the nurse has "fallen hard" for the patient or that he "can see it in her eyes" or that she "acts just like a nurse with all the other guys" and behaves differently toward him. In any event, it's unlikely that he's "taking [the nurse] home with [him], as he's unlikely leaving this place any time soon.
He must "say hello" (read: get used to) an orderly's knee in his back while his face is pressed down on the hospital floor's rug. Or, possibly, the pills from the little cup might make the rug's topography actually seem interesting to him. He's forced to deal with--"say hello" to--the reality that he must keep everything he's left behind in his memory. The things he's left behind can't be touched, either due to physical barricade of the hospital, or possibly he has isolated or been abandoned by his past relationships activities. These might be the apples on the ground that were lost while he was sleeping.
For now he needs, or, at least must settle for: confinement, pharma-drugs, the nurse who helps him, the shrinking in his head, and something to find interesting: memories of loves, people and things he's left behind; and maybe even the rug's topography.
Great lyrics by Failure and an intricate and lovely treatment by A Perfect Circle!