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.
I don't go to therapy to find out if I'm a freak
I go and I find the one and only answer every week
And it's just me and all the memories to follow
Down any course that fits within a fifty minute hour
And we fathom all the mysteries, explicit and inherent
When I hit a rut, she says to try the other parent
And she's so kind, I think she wants to tell me something,
But she knows that its much better if I get it for myself
And she says
What do you hear in these sounds?
What do you hear in these sounds?
I say I hear a doubt, with the voice of true believing
And the promises to stay, and the footsteps that are leaving
And she says "Oh," I say, "What?" she says, "Exactly,"
I say, "What, you think I'm angry
Does that mean you think I'm angry?"
She says "Look, you come here every week
With jigsaw pieces of your past
Its all on little soundbites and voices out of photographs
And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map
So tell me, where does the arrow point to?
Who invented roses?"
And
What do you hear in these sounds?
What do you hear in these sounds?
And when I talk about therapy, I know what people think
That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink
But oh how I loved everybody else
When I finally got to talk so much about myself
And I wake up and I ask myself what state I'm in
And I say well I'm lucky, 'cause I am like East Berlin
I had this wall and what I knew of the free world
Was that I could see their fireworks
And I could hear their radio
And I thought that if we met, I would only start confessing
And they'd know that I was scared
They'd would know that I was guessing
But the wall came down and there they stood before me
With their stumbling and their mumbling
And their calling out just like me, and
The stories that nobody hears, and
I collect these sounds in my ears, and
That's what I hear in these sounds, and
That's what I hear in these,
That's what I hear in these sounds.
I go and I find the one and only answer every week
And it's just me and all the memories to follow
Down any course that fits within a fifty minute hour
And we fathom all the mysteries, explicit and inherent
When I hit a rut, she says to try the other parent
And she's so kind, I think she wants to tell me something,
But she knows that its much better if I get it for myself
And she says
What do you hear in these sounds?
What do you hear in these sounds?
I say I hear a doubt, with the voice of true believing
And the promises to stay, and the footsteps that are leaving
And she says "Oh," I say, "What?" she says, "Exactly,"
I say, "What, you think I'm angry
Does that mean you think I'm angry?"
She says "Look, you come here every week
With jigsaw pieces of your past
Its all on little soundbites and voices out of photographs
And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map
So tell me, where does the arrow point to?
Who invented roses?"
And
What do you hear in these sounds?
What do you hear in these sounds?
And when I talk about therapy, I know what people think
That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink
But oh how I loved everybody else
When I finally got to talk so much about myself
And I wake up and I ask myself what state I'm in
And I say well I'm lucky, 'cause I am like East Berlin
I had this wall and what I knew of the free world
Was that I could see their fireworks
And I could hear their radio
And I thought that if we met, I would only start confessing
And they'd know that I was scared
They'd would know that I was guessing
But the wall came down and there they stood before me
With their stumbling and their mumbling
And their calling out just like me, and
The stories that nobody hears, and
I collect these sounds in my ears, and
That's what I hear in these sounds, and
That's what I hear in these,
That's what I hear in these sounds.
Lyrics submitted by VampedVixen
What Do You Hear in These Sounds Lyrics as written by Dar Williams
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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What she had to say about therapy in an interview
"I knew that I was different from other college students, you know. I just thought when something hurts me, which was often, I can't recover from that comment for days. It just felt like there was no me there, to, you know, push up against anything anyone was saying to me. So I was sort of defenseless and that was very much the depression."
"A friend of mine was seeing a therapist and my sister encouraged me to go, you know, cause I said something like 'Do you think of killing yourself a lot?' or something and she said "Oh no.." And your told if anyone says that that you have to take that very seriously. And I think she was right to take it seriously so she said, 'you really have to go see a therapist'. And I went. And um, she said 'I think you're in deeper trouble than you think'. I remember feeling a little scared and a little relived at the same time. When I went back to her she said that again, she said 'I think this is what we call clinical depression'."
"The reason I credit therapy with so much and actually wrote a song about it and wrote a song about depression is that I would have just killed myself if I hadn't done it. I wouldn't be here today and I'd rather be here today and be humble about it then keep it a secret."
What she had to say about therapy in an interview
"I knew that I was different from other college students, you know. I just thought when something hurts me, which was often, I can't recover from that comment for days. It just felt like there was no me there, to, you know, push up against anything anyone was saying to me. So I was sort of defenseless and that was very much the depression."
"A friend of mine was seeing a therapist and my sister encouraged me to go, you know, cause I said something like 'Do you think of killing yourself a lot?' or something and she said "Oh no.." And your told if anyone says that that you have to take that very seriously. And I think she was right to take it seriously so she said, 'you really have to go see a therapist'. And I went. And um, she said 'I think you're in deeper trouble than you think'. I remember feeling a little scared and a little relived at the same time. When I went back to her she said that again, she said 'I think this is what we call clinical depression'."
"The reason I credit therapy with so much and actually wrote a song about it and wrote a song about depression is that I would have just killed myself if I hadn't done it. I wouldn't be here today and I'd rather be here today and be humble about it then keep it a secret."
"But then the wall came down And there they stood before me With their stumbling and bumbling And calling out just like me"
That moment when you realize you just might be normal after all.