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.
I knew a girl
With sad blue eyes
Put out the feast
I lost my psychic prize
I did forget
What the tarot maid did say
I burn today
I burn today
Our house was filled
With many birds
She said to me
I can understand their words
The land will shake, so run away
I burn today
I burn today
Yes today I will burn
For the times
I did not learn
She said "Our fun,
Its time has come
Hold my heart strings
And have yourself a strum"
No, nevermore
This song will we play
I burn today eh
I burn today
And as I drank
In old Paris
She lay her cards
Just to see what she would see
Down by the water you'll find your happy days
I burn today
I burn today
Yes today I will burn
For the times
I did not learn
I ran so fast
Into the north
No snow on me
And so he said thenceforth
I let snow fall
On frozen yesterday
I burn today
I burn today
And if my head
Is hanging down
I feel her arms
And her legs are all around
And we make love
Beside the waterway
I burn today
I burn today
Yes today I will burn
For the times
I did not learn
Behold the rose
Of Jericho
How many lives
I really do not know
Though with the rain
I know it will return
Today I burn
Today I burn
With sad blue eyes
Put out the feast
I lost my psychic prize
I did forget
What the tarot maid did say
I burn today
I burn today
Our house was filled
With many birds
She said to me
I can understand their words
The land will shake, so run away
I burn today
I burn today
Yes today I will burn
For the times
I did not learn
She said "Our fun,
Its time has come
Hold my heart strings
And have yourself a strum"
No, nevermore
This song will we play
I burn today eh
I burn today
And as I drank
In old Paris
She lay her cards
Just to see what she would see
Down by the water you'll find your happy days
I burn today
I burn today
Yes today I will burn
For the times
I did not learn
I ran so fast
Into the north
No snow on me
And so he said thenceforth
I let snow fall
On frozen yesterday
I burn today
I burn today
And if my head
Is hanging down
I feel her arms
And her legs are all around
And we make love
Beside the waterway
I burn today
I burn today
Yes today I will burn
For the times
I did not learn
Behold the rose
Of Jericho
How many lives
I really do not know
Though with the rain
I know it will return
Today I burn
Today I burn
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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.
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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:
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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
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This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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“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.
Such a beautiful song.
Any ideas? I don't have anything solid.
I am going to guess and say that it has something to do with relationships (obviously I guess :-> ). The Rose of Jericho reference maybe indicates that the relationship is always on again off again, since the rose of jericho is also known as the resurrection plant. During dry times, the rose of jericho curls up completely and appears to be dead, and blows around in the wind until it comes in contact with water. When the dried bud gets water it lives again. So the Rose of Jericho could be symbolic of the type of relationship that is being sung about. Or, the song could be about karma and reincarnation and meeting up again and again with your soulmate in different lives only to make the same mistakes again and again.
I don't know which is burning: him or the day. What do you guys think?