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.
The great American mischief has muted our hearts and our rhythms are met with the inharmonious grunts of electric guitars
It's all but too much
Nobody out there believes the obscene are reprieved
Everybody get fed up
My baby better get high, I've got something I need to confess
The dead men talking are longing for so much more than simply the obvious. Cut us off. We're suffering, hysterical, lighting flares from the foot of her bed. I've been begging you for less mercy than this. But the only thing you need to know is that you never wanted to know. Take it off, take it back, or take cover because we're nearing a nerve. Dead is wasted on the patient so make haste and head for the wake. Now the hornets inhabit the hearts we've abandoned. We are gone. Cast aside our clothes like funeral roses, and dance straight through the psalm. I'm dead in the water. Don't come for me. I was once alive in the deserts eyes on the day it wed the sea. I drew a chalk outline around your city. Hushed the sobs in your halls. But we both know it's killer, baby he'll outrun them all. There is so much shame in how little we've gained for so long. Now the sky is falling. And you're just repeating every word I say. You are not listening close enough. It's a catastrophe. You have not been concentrating. Pay attention there will be an exam
Build an ark
Come bring us back to the ruin
Drifting out of our heads
Taped off the sky above your city
Dusted for prints on the chapel wall
But we all know that it's killer, baby I will outrun them all
It's all but too much
Nobody out there believes the obscene are reprieved
Everybody get fed up
My baby better get high, I've got something I need to confess
The dead men talking are longing for so much more than simply the obvious. Cut us off. We're suffering, hysterical, lighting flares from the foot of her bed. I've been begging you for less mercy than this. But the only thing you need to know is that you never wanted to know. Take it off, take it back, or take cover because we're nearing a nerve. Dead is wasted on the patient so make haste and head for the wake. Now the hornets inhabit the hearts we've abandoned. We are gone. Cast aside our clothes like funeral roses, and dance straight through the psalm. I'm dead in the water. Don't come for me. I was once alive in the deserts eyes on the day it wed the sea. I drew a chalk outline around your city. Hushed the sobs in your halls. But we both know it's killer, baby he'll outrun them all. There is so much shame in how little we've gained for so long. Now the sky is falling. And you're just repeating every word I say. You are not listening close enough. It's a catastrophe. You have not been concentrating. Pay attention there will be an exam
Build an ark
Come bring us back to the ruin
Drifting out of our heads
Taped off the sky above your city
Dusted for prints on the chapel wall
But we all know that it's killer, baby I will outrun them all
Lyrics submitted by femmesofrussia
Pretty Dirty Lyrics as written by Jordan Taylor Buckley Andrew John Williams
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
he says "my baby better get high cause ive got something i need to confess" thats why your hearing and S sound
after a while of not listening 2 it, took what u sed in2 consideration, and yet i still hera something along the lines of "my baby better not caress/i've got something i need to confess/" <br /> it's annoying the hell out of me, but album booklets have loads of misprints all the time, i think it's some1 else interpreting the songs, and not the artist. <br /> <br /> end of the day though, you even replying to me was indulging me way 2 much, it really doesn't matter.