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.
And I'm here the first standing here on the moon
It took us years of work
But we got through
And yet now, I'm here just on my own
So cry a tear for the man on the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
And this spinning blue jewel here in my palm
Far away down there just seems so small
And yet, now I'm here I see it all
So cry a tear for the man in the moon
And yet, now I'm here I see it all
So cry a tear for the man in the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
It took us years of work
But we got through
And yet now, I'm here just on my own
So cry a tear for the man on the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
And this spinning blue jewel here in my palm
Far away down there just seems so small
And yet, now I'm here I see it all
So cry a tear for the man in the moon
And yet, now I'm here I see it all
So cry a tear for the man in the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
Cry a tear for the man in the moon
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Light Up The Sky
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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”
Blue
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
If it were about relationships and love, the song speaks of solitude. "It took us years of work, but we got through. And YET now I'm here on my own..." depicts a couple that had to try hard to make it work, but in the end, when they both reach that peaceful happy state of being together, the one who tried the most feels very much alone and compares it to a mission on the moon, for the better of the relationship (mankind), but obviously the moon it's a very lonely place to be. The sort of prayer he says "cry a tear for this man on the moon" makes it even more obvious of his sadness - he wants the other person to know of this sadness and shed a tear for him.
Second verse "spinning blue jewel (earth).." speaks of looking back, down there... where the other person is. He symbolizes life and their other half with the earth, a blue jewel, big and unseen there, but small and completely seen from up in the moon.
Another interpretation could be about getting over someone and ending up on the "moon" - the final "stage" of truly getting over someone, up there, no feelings, cold and uninhabited, some sort of bittersweet oblivion when you don't care anymore about the other person you once would have given your life for. It has taken them both a lot of work to get over each other, and they both succeeded, but only him ended up growing lonely and cold hearted - on the moon.