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.
He always looked behind him
Scared somebody would jump him
Put him on the ground so he'd come around
To the sound of people laughing
'Cause the whole world loved to mock him
Sun and moon both pointed at him
Kids would crick their necks to get a better view
Well, it really did his mind in
And we wanted to protect him
So we placed his face in a smash-proof case and placed it
In the fridge
They giggled in the corners
Whispered lies across the borders
They derided him and chided him
'Till he carried out their orders
So he dashed into the limelight
Played at Hamlet for a fortnight
Waved his arms and screamed demands for some respect
But they just could not excuse him
It was really too amusing
So he packed his sack and scrambled back to safety
In the fridge
And I swear I saw his spirit
Skim the sky with nothing near it
Piled armour-plated roller skates
White feather train to steer it
Scared somebody would look up
Gesticulate and throw up
Send him flitting, flitting, scarred behind a cloud
But for him, there's no escaping
No hole big enough to hide in
Best just to stay nicely out the way in safety
In the fridge
In the village bells were tolling
In the town the dogs were howling
It was Armageddon, tanks crashed head-on
Planet Earth was drowning
Then the Devil sent a shower
Europe died in half an hour
And a demon wind just finished off the rest
But our friend, he took a teabreak
Idly munching on a fish cake
Quite oblivious and ignorant but cozy
In the fridge
It's so cold there, in the fridge
It's so icy, frosty
Scared somebody would jump him
Put him on the ground so he'd come around
To the sound of people laughing
'Cause the whole world loved to mock him
Sun and moon both pointed at him
Kids would crick their necks to get a better view
Well, it really did his mind in
And we wanted to protect him
So we placed his face in a smash-proof case and placed it
In the fridge
They giggled in the corners
Whispered lies across the borders
They derided him and chided him
'Till he carried out their orders
So he dashed into the limelight
Played at Hamlet for a fortnight
Waved his arms and screamed demands for some respect
But they just could not excuse him
It was really too amusing
So he packed his sack and scrambled back to safety
In the fridge
And I swear I saw his spirit
Skim the sky with nothing near it
Piled armour-plated roller skates
White feather train to steer it
Scared somebody would look up
Gesticulate and throw up
Send him flitting, flitting, scarred behind a cloud
But for him, there's no escaping
No hole big enough to hide in
Best just to stay nicely out the way in safety
In the fridge
In the village bells were tolling
In the town the dogs were howling
It was Armageddon, tanks crashed head-on
Planet Earth was drowning
Then the Devil sent a shower
Europe died in half an hour
And a demon wind just finished off the rest
But our friend, he took a teabreak
Idly munching on a fish cake
Quite oblivious and ignorant but cozy
In the fridge
It's so cold there, in the fridge
It's so icy, frosty
Lyrics submitted by Delirium
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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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.
Think of the term "cool". Here are three definitons:
Our narrator singing in this piece tells us that the main character has become paranoid due to unceasing torment by others. He then goes on to perhaps exaggerate the point by saying that the whole world and the sun and the moon are involved too.
His friends feel for him and try to protect him, but the constant ridicule really gets to him. They put his face "in a smash proof case." and put it in the fridge. A place of calmness, and poise, if we follow the metaphor through. A place where perhaps, in his circle of friends at least he is accepted.
Not sure if the "they" giggling and giving orders are a reference to his friends or the ridiculers in the world, but in either case the orders seem to be to go and take his message into the limelight, where perhaps it would be better percieved as art.
"Playing Hamlet for a fortnight" is an interesting phrase. Hamlet the play is basically a revenge plot. Hamlet's father, the King, is killed, but the killer - his Uncle - has now become King and therefore in a position of power difficult to reach in some ways. Hamlet becomes depressed about this, and acts in ways some consider mad. It is his own conscience that spurs him onwards "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space - were it not that I have bad dreams". He ends up choosing a play for his Uncle to see that depicts the exact kind of betrayal and murder of his Uncle's plans, hoping that "The Play is the thing, wherein we'll catch the conscience of the King."
So, our character is playing Hamlet, and screaming demands for respect on stage. Edward seems to sympathize with the character of Hamlet in some ways. Compare the line "I will take those sling and arrows" from the song "Radio 6" off his solo album "Red Letters", in reference to the famous Hamlet soliloquy:
To be or not to be, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.
So, on that album, it appears that Edward answers this question of to be or not to be with "To Be", and that he WILL suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
At the end, a huge war breaks out, but our character has decided to stay cool.
Compare with the lines "And Satan walked the earth again, brought plagues of locusts, whips and chains... Played Guns 'n' Roses, blocked the drains but no one payed attention. Too busy in their quiet dream, playing possum drinking tea. The world concluded happily. So there." from the song "She Gave Me an Apple" on the album Chemical Playschool 9.