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.
You've got religion on you side,
That’s why you tell so many lies,
Every kiss is just a kiss,
Nothing more and nothing less.
Hold your breath we’re going down, Son.
I'll stick a fork into your side,
Just to make sure your alive,
It'll jeopardise our friendship,
But you've always hated that.
Yes, I know, they’re gonna stone you.
Cut my fingers off and
Make my hand a ghost.
To put it in your head,
Excuse my thoughts,
Why can't you say?
‘Sometimes I live a lonely life,
Such a pointless life,
God knows I love to criticise,
The only way that I'll get by.
Yes, I need common sense
(I really wasn’t born with it).
Shoot me in the face,
And make these demons dissipate.’
I am just the same as you,
I've spent a lifetime in a room,
I’ve spent a lifetime in a chair,
I’ve thrown stones at passing cars.
It was funny. Ha! Ha! Ha!
I’m getting chased by killer bees,
I’ll fight them with yesterday’s news.
How do you start again?
I'd give a lot to start anew,
And make my peace with animals,
But I’m too old. I told you,
To cut my fingers off,
And make my hand a ghost.
To put it in your head,
Excuse my thoughts,
You’ll never say,
‘Sometimes I live a lonely life,
Such a pointless life.
God knows I love to criticise,
The only way that I'll get by.
Yes, I need some common sense
(I really wasn't born with it),
Shoot me in the face and make these demons dissipate.
No matter how long I stay I get the feeling to leave,
I'd better leave right now,
Before I go insane and I will lose my brain and I will never come back.
To stick a fork into your side, just to make sure you’re alive,
But you’ve always hated that.
Just say, ‘Sometimes I live a lonely life,
Such a pointless life.
God knows I love to criticise,
The only way that I get by.
Yes, I need some common sense
(I really wasn't born with it),
Shoot me in the face and make these demons dissipate.
That’s why you tell so many lies,
Every kiss is just a kiss,
Nothing more and nothing less.
Hold your breath we’re going down, Son.
I'll stick a fork into your side,
Just to make sure your alive,
It'll jeopardise our friendship,
But you've always hated that.
Yes, I know, they’re gonna stone you.
Cut my fingers off and
Make my hand a ghost.
To put it in your head,
Excuse my thoughts,
Why can't you say?
‘Sometimes I live a lonely life,
Such a pointless life,
God knows I love to criticise,
The only way that I'll get by.
Yes, I need common sense
(I really wasn’t born with it).
Shoot me in the face,
And make these demons dissipate.’
I am just the same as you,
I've spent a lifetime in a room,
I’ve spent a lifetime in a chair,
I’ve thrown stones at passing cars.
It was funny. Ha! Ha! Ha!
I’m getting chased by killer bees,
I’ll fight them with yesterday’s news.
How do you start again?
I'd give a lot to start anew,
And make my peace with animals,
But I’m too old. I told you,
To cut my fingers off,
And make my hand a ghost.
To put it in your head,
Excuse my thoughts,
You’ll never say,
‘Sometimes I live a lonely life,
Such a pointless life.
God knows I love to criticise,
The only way that I'll get by.
Yes, I need some common sense
(I really wasn't born with it),
Shoot me in the face and make these demons dissipate.
No matter how long I stay I get the feeling to leave,
I'd better leave right now,
Before I go insane and I will lose my brain and I will never come back.
To stick a fork into your side, just to make sure you’re alive,
But you’ve always hated that.
Just say, ‘Sometimes I live a lonely life,
Such a pointless life.
God knows I love to criticise,
The only way that I get by.
Yes, I need some common sense
(I really wasn't born with it),
Shoot me in the face and make these demons dissipate.
Lyrics submitted by dricambo
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I can`t believe nobody has yet commented on this absolutely gorgeous song.
To me this song is about living life to your heart
s content, being passionate about the things you like, even if they are dull ("spent a lifetime in a room") or silly ("thrown stones at passing cars"). You feel "lonely" and "pointless" when the people around you fail to understand. You see the lack of desire to live in everyone around you ("stick a fork into your side, just to make sure youre alive").You try to get through to them ("make my hand a ghost to put it in your head"), but realising your efforts are useless, as the conclusion of the song is that they will never open their eyes and see how shallow they are ("why can
t you say" -> "youll never say" -> "just say").The sense of despair in this song is something like "If you can`t beat them, join them.". On some level, you want to be just like everyone else, not having to fight with your "demons" every single day: "Yes, I need some common sense (I really wasn't born with it), Shoot me in the face and make these demons dissipate."
I absolutely adore this song as I can definitely relate. I
ve spent quite a chunk of my life feeling exactly like that. Seeing as its in the past, the song has lost a tiny bit of its magic, but I still love it to pieces. If you haven`t yet downloaded it, take my advice: do it.PS: If anyone has any info on the band Battle (websites, release dates etc.) I
d be forever grateful if youd share. Thanks. :)