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.
No, no, mama, now devil done do-si-do
Two young boys lyindead by the side of the road
And the coins in their eyes represent the money they owe
No judge or jury ever gonna hear the story told
Down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
Louisiana bayou
Sweet girl, daddy done beat that girl like he's insane
Brother can't watch him beat that girl down again
So late one night cookin' up with a couple of friends
Swears his daddy never gonna see another day
Down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) bring down a saint
No, no, mama, the devil done do-si-do
See two young boys lying dead by side of the road
Shame shame
Oh its a shame to lose your way running wild
Oh it's a shame to lose the light that shines (shame shame)
Oh it's a shame to lose your way as a child
Oh it's a shame to lose your
Money on the bed, but you ain't got to go
Sold your soul just tryin to get over low
No empty pocket gonna keep you from gettin yours
No judge or jury ever gonna hear the story told
Down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou)
No, no, mama, trying devil done do-si-do
Two young boys lying dead by the side of the road
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to get with the pain
See there's nowhere to go
Louisiana bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Troubles do it again
Same old sold story again (Louisiana bayou)
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the aine
Oh it's a shame to lose your way running wild (same old story again)
Oh it's a shame to lose the light that shines
Oh it's a shame to lose your way as a child
Oh (same old story again) it's a shame to lose your?
Down by the bayou
Louisiana bayou?
Louisiana bayou?
Two young boys lyindead by the side of the road
And the coins in their eyes represent the money they owe
No judge or jury ever gonna hear the story told
Down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
Louisiana bayou
Sweet girl, daddy done beat that girl like he's insane
Brother can't watch him beat that girl down again
So late one night cookin' up with a couple of friends
Swears his daddy never gonna see another day
Down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) bring down a saint
No, no, mama, the devil done do-si-do
See two young boys lying dead by side of the road
Shame shame
Oh its a shame to lose your way running wild
Oh it's a shame to lose the light that shines (shame shame)
Oh it's a shame to lose your way as a child
Oh it's a shame to lose your
Money on the bed, but you ain't got to go
Sold your soul just tryin to get over low
No empty pocket gonna keep you from gettin yours
No judge or jury ever gonna hear the story told
Down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou)
No, no, mama, trying devil done do-si-do
Two young boys lying dead by the side of the road
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to get with the pain
See there's nowhere to go
Louisiana bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Troubles do it again
Same old sold story again (Louisiana bayou)
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the caine
Trying to play with the caine
Same old story again
(Louisiana bayou) down by the bayou
Trying to play with the aine
Oh it's a shame to lose your way running wild (same old story again)
Oh it's a shame to lose the light that shines
Oh it's a shame to lose your way as a child
Oh (same old story again) it's a shame to lose your?
Down by the bayou
Louisiana bayou?
Louisiana bayou?
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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.
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dont you think that all of DMB songs relate together? I mean that Daves context is always the same. every song..their all theologically connected. dave steps far back from its context and generalized his ideas.
Louisiana is not above all know for cocain addiction. as opposed to any other location. this is a much more generalized story as dave states..."same old story again" one could read "playing with cain" (son of adam) thats a same old story. other song on stand up...wake up. stand up. might die trying..all related in sontext. la bayou is simply speaking of losing innocence. recognizing that sinning within a context brings one to death.. what is it..its lack of mercy. a mother sees her children dead on the pathway of life. thats enevitable. all die. same old story. the devil done do-si-doed..what killed the girl..money on the bed?..envy..greed. its sin. the "soul that sins shall die"... its all theological as dave writes in every song in various symbols..youve just got to look at the song from daves viewpoint. he cant "see" it any other way. but he can "say" it in a whole bunch of ways.
pick any song. the theological thread is interwoven into it everytime.
RAPUNZEL, CRUSH, CRASH INTO ME, You lose.<br /> <br /> while Dave often, (extremely often) writes about God, Christ and theology, it is not and has never been a theme in every song he writes... If all of his songs were theological he would become one-dimensional, and Dave stands out most as being the most multi-dimensional artist in our modern time, I agree with you the theology is a very important motif in his writing, but it is not at all THE motif. Also, I hope i did not offend you, I meant no harm hahaha.
I think most people overlook the overall tone of the song as well. It's a very upbeat toon, with a blues like horn in the background. He honestly doesn't sing it like a very deep meaning song and the reasons people seem to be giving are real damn deep.
@Me2 <br /> Me2, I see what you mean, but dont think so much the thread is theological as much as spiritual. I see a lot of buddhistic ideas is Dave's lyrics. Song that Jane Likes and Water into Wine suggest reincarnation. Bayou is regrets wasting our precious opportunity through ignorance. Some songs are just for plain fun though, but always Dave seems to return to meaningful spiritual concepts.
I love this song but didn't have a clue as to what Dave was saying. After reading the lyrics (prior to coming on here) I'm almost positive they're talking about drugs, coke and debts due to drug dealers or mobs or something. It's pretty well known that when Mobs kill people who owe money, they'd place coins on their eyes to represent that and warn others of what will happen if they don't pay. It kind of made me sad that such a happy lighthearted song, or so I thought, is about murder. I still like it though. Plus there's the first verse about the Devil doing the do-si-do. Obviously the devil would be dancing when happy that horrible things are happening.
wow. i fucking love this song. its def my fav on stand up. couldnt even begin to figure out what its about, but i dont care, it makes me happy and makes me dance. i love dave. and i love that band.
I also am lost when it comes to what this song means....maybe loss of child innccence or somthing, heck I don't know, but it sure is an AMAZING song!
I'm pretty positive this song is about getting in too deep with cocaine (i.e. the 'caine).
1ST VERSE: two boys owed money for coke and they couldn't pay up so they were murdered. the murderer put coins in their eyes to show that they were in debt.
2ND VERSE: an abusive father beat a little girl so her brother got lit up with some friends and decided to kill the father.
3RD VERSE: you're out of money but you keep feeding the addiction anyway.
seems to fit together to me.
coins on the eyes referr to death..a coin for the boatride across the river styx. nothing to due with drugs..its toiling in mans work..down in the bayou. the two "boys"..doesnt the song further speak of two men. a father and a son..both denying mercy to one another. they died for lack of mercy. the girl mentioned loses her innocence due to greed..or better yet. patience..its a shame to lose you way as a spiritual "child". ..its not about drug addiction..its about losing ones innocence
true in ancient greek belief the coins on the eyes were for the toll for the river styx, but in the song dave says it represents the money they owe...im going with cocaine
Drug Dealer's have also been known to kill and leave messages as to why the victim was killed, so the "Coins in their eyes represents the money they owe" really can't be taken any other way. You can search for a deeper meaning but that doesn't mean it is there. <br /> <br /> I think this is a common case of trying to find something insanely deep in a song that is already deep enough. The song is about being in trouble, all the verses line up with that. <br /> <br /> First verse is about two dead men who owed money for their addiction or for something else. Second one is about kids getting high and killing a man who beats his child. Third is about having no money and still needing your fix and doing whatever you can to get it. "Sold your soul just trying to get over low" refers to withdraw symptoms. You need to get over your "low" so you sell your soul. <br /> <br /> It's almost glaringly obviously to be honest.
I agree with Ogrods on this one. To me it's pretty clear that it's about cocaine.
I see the cocaine addiction...but i think it goes deeper than that, how deep or where it leads, i have no idea. Coins were placed on the eyes of the dead so that they could pay the toll to the Boatman on the river Styx. It has nothing to do with debt to anybody, it's simply how their soul was supposed to get into the afterlife. Dave may have wanted it to represent a debt to a specific person, but that's not the original intent of the custom. This is, I think, Dave's best song on the CD...it's the one that strays the least from the bands original style, and his heart really seems to be in the vocals on this one.
i dunno, in my opinion i think people read into it a little TOO much...
I heard Dave talk about this song at storytellers(which they said will air in september). He said that he heard a story from a woman about two kids in Louisiana that she originally thought were sleeping, but when she got closer she realized they were dead. He said that this made him think about how there are people that are not as fortunate as we are, in some smaller towns in places like Louisiana.
I too think the song is great!!