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.
So the air's gettin' colder,
and the news keeps us scared,
I still wrestle this summer,
from the bones of our tired, blistered hands,
cause tonight we got drinks,
just a couple of friends,
and the girl that my brother likes is finally talkin' to him,
and his chest is all swelled like he's proud and happy,
like he's got a great idea,
like he's makin' a memory...
Wake up,
and come out to the car,
there's an east swell comin',
and it's howlin' offshore,
and we'll be,
lyin' like lions out in the sand,
but i'll be dead before you put a gun in my brother's hands.
So we make jokes back home,
and we lighten the mood,
but growing up my parents saw,
what sending a kid to fight can really do,
but now with the war I can tell they're a little shook up,
'cause just a few mothers sons will never really be enough,
not 'til half our names are etched out in the wall,
and the other half ruined from the things we saw...
Wake up,
and come out to the car,
there's an east swell comin',
and it's howlin' offshore,
and we'll be,
lyin' like lions out in the sand,
but i'll be dead before you put a gun in my brother's hands.
Wake up,
and come out to the car,
there's an east swell comin',
and it's howlin' offshore,
and we'll be,
lyin' like lions out in the sand,
but i'll be dead before you put a gun in my brother's hands.
and the news keeps us scared,
I still wrestle this summer,
from the bones of our tired, blistered hands,
cause tonight we got drinks,
just a couple of friends,
and the girl that my brother likes is finally talkin' to him,
and his chest is all swelled like he's proud and happy,
like he's got a great idea,
like he's makin' a memory...
Wake up,
and come out to the car,
there's an east swell comin',
and it's howlin' offshore,
and we'll be,
lyin' like lions out in the sand,
but i'll be dead before you put a gun in my brother's hands.
So we make jokes back home,
and we lighten the mood,
but growing up my parents saw,
what sending a kid to fight can really do,
but now with the war I can tell they're a little shook up,
'cause just a few mothers sons will never really be enough,
not 'til half our names are etched out in the wall,
and the other half ruined from the things we saw...
Wake up,
and come out to the car,
there's an east swell comin',
and it's howlin' offshore,
and we'll be,
lyin' like lions out in the sand,
but i'll be dead before you put a gun in my brother's hands.
Wake up,
and come out to the car,
there's an east swell comin',
and it's howlin' offshore,
and we'll be,
lyin' like lions out in the sand,
but i'll be dead before you put a gun in my brother's hands.
Lyrics submitted by tjwells
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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.
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"lying like lions out in the sand" is a reference to hemingway's "old man and the sea" where the main character dreams of lions on the beach three times, remembering his youth. i think here it's just saying they're young and enjoying life and war disrupts that.
since nobody seemed to hit the nail on the head, this song is more than just anti-war...jesse's brother is in the army and went to iraq and this is his reaction to what is going on. the first verse shows how he had a good life at home but left to defend his country, then the second is about the worry from the family and jesse and hearing of all the people who have died (and not getting any good news, damn liberal media!) plus his parents are remembering vietnam and what they saw of the people who came home. and the chorus is trying to tell his brother that he'd rather they run from the war (wake up and come out to the car) than have to worry about him over there (in the east) where tensions are building (swell) but still he supports them and knows they'll win (and it's howlin offshore) but he'd rather they just be kings of their town then have him over there
This song alone was all it took to make me anti-war, it is that powerful.
This song is truly brilliant. It captures the loss of youth that war can sometimes characterize. The beginning of the song depicts a very youthful image, with mentions of silly parties and young love. This song is written in the perspective of a brother, presumably older, who may have already lost his vision of youth, and it was his younger brother who reminded him of the beauty of youth. However, he has to face the loss of youth, the loss of innocence, once again but this time it's vicariously. This song is a heart-wrenching tale of a brother who's willing to fight against all odd's to preserve his brother's innocence, his brother's youth.
"and it's howlin' offshore"
... are these new demos????~?!?!
they are indeed.
amazing.
amazing.
where are people getting the new demos?