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.
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
'Cause I've been far too hurt by this man
Apparently I don't give him leeway
Apparently I don't understand
There's the last word we were meant to have
With the crossing light turned white too fast
There's the last kiss we were meant to share
There's a new girl now so he shouldn't dare
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
'Cause I need sleep with somebody soft
I take a drink
A toast to his fortune
I'm not ready yet for coffee or talk
'Cause there are pictures I've yet to take down
And he's still watching over my cat at a hotel just down the street
'Cause the new girl prefers it like that
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
Safe from the one who's loving him tonight
She's even got a beautiful name
Now Rachael and James just doesn't seem right
Well that's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
'Cause I am drifting far off to sea with a couple of ticket stubs to float on
And the backlight of each memory
Is there a woman out there who'll take me away
'Cause I may never fall in love with a man
He was my best friend
My everything
He can't save me
Nobody can
That's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
'Cause I've been far too hurt by this man
Apparently I don't give him leeway
Apparently I don't understand
There's the last word we were meant to have
With the crossing light turned white too fast
There's the last kiss we were meant to share
There's a new girl now so he shouldn't dare
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
'Cause I need sleep with somebody soft
I take a drink
A toast to his fortune
I'm not ready yet for coffee or talk
'Cause there are pictures I've yet to take down
And he's still watching over my cat at a hotel just down the street
'Cause the new girl prefers it like that
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
Safe from the one who's loving him tonight
She's even got a beautiful name
Now Rachael and James just doesn't seem right
Well that's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
Is there a woman out there who'll take me
'Cause I am drifting far off to sea with a couple of ticket stubs to float on
And the backlight of each memory
Is there a woman out there who'll take me away
'Cause I may never fall in love with a man
He was my best friend
My everything
He can't save me
Nobody can
That's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
That's the way it goes
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
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.
The Night We Met
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Plastic Bag
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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.
I love this song. I think it's about her wanting to turn to women to take care of her emotionally because every man she's been with doesn't.
"now, rachael and james, just doesn't seem right"
i thought that was messed up, her ex hooked up with a new girl with the same name as hers.
i think it's supposed to be "save for the one that's loving him tonight" as in she'll take any woman except the woman her ex is with.. and i don't think the new girl's name is rachael, but i think she's saying that her name and his don't sound right together anymore..
and thing about if he can't save her, nobody can makes sense.. even if they're the ones who hurt you so incredibly, sometimes they're the only ones who can really get through to you again
i think it's supposed to be "save for the one that's loving him tonight" as in she'll take any woman except the woman her ex is with.. and i don't think the new girl's name is rachael, but i think she's saying that her name and his don't sound right together anymore..
and thing about if he can't save her, nobody can makes sense.. even if they're the ones who hurt you so incredibly, sometimes they're the only ones who can really get through to you again