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.
What if you could wish me away
And what if you spoke those words today
I wonder if you'd miss me when I'm gone
It's come to this release me
I'll leave before the dawn
But for tonight, I'll stay here with you
Yes, for tonight, I'll lay here with you
But when the sun hits your eyes through your window
There'll be nothing you can do
What if you could hear this song
What if I felt like I belong
I might not be leaving (oh) so soon
Began the night believing
I loved you in the moonlight
So for tonight, I'll stay here with you
Yes for tonight, I'll lay here with you
But when the sun hits your eyes
Through your window
There'll be nothing you can do
I could have treated you better, better than this
Well I'm gone, this song's your letter
I can't stay in one place
So for tonight, I'll stay here with you
Yes, for tonight, I'll lay here with you
But when the sun hits your eyes through your window
There'll be nothing you can do
And what if you spoke those words today
I wonder if you'd miss me when I'm gone
It's come to this release me
I'll leave before the dawn
But for tonight, I'll stay here with you
Yes, for tonight, I'll lay here with you
But when the sun hits your eyes through your window
There'll be nothing you can do
What if you could hear this song
What if I felt like I belong
I might not be leaving (oh) so soon
Began the night believing
I loved you in the moonlight
So for tonight, I'll stay here with you
Yes for tonight, I'll lay here with you
But when the sun hits your eyes
Through your window
There'll be nothing you can do
I could have treated you better, better than this
Well I'm gone, this song's your letter
I can't stay in one place
So for tonight, I'll stay here with you
Yes, for tonight, I'll lay here with you
But when the sun hits your eyes through your window
There'll be nothing you can do
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
'what if you could wish me away? what if you spoke those words today? i wonder if you'd miss me when i'm gone. it's come to this, release me, i'll leave before the dawn. but for tonight, i'll stay here with you yes, for tonight, i'll lay here with you. but when the sun hits your eyes through your window there'll be nothing you can do.
what if you could hear this song? what if i felt like i belong? i might not be leaving (oh) so soon began the night believing i loved you in the moonlight so for tonight, i'll stay here with you yes for tonight, i'll lay here with you but when the sun hits your eyes through your window there'll be nothing you can do
i could have treated you better, better than this well i'm gone, this song's your letter: i can't stay in one place so for tonight, i'll stay here with you yes, for tonight, i'll lay here with you but when the sun hits your eyes through your window there'll be nothing you can do.'
just a tiny correction.
i don't think it's about a lack of love. it's about too much love. both know it's destined to end, for whatever reasons. they're both just quietly waiting. she doesn't realise it's come to this.. & hence his 'what if you could hear this song?' as in she'd try to make him stay, she wants him there.. despite the knowledge that it shouldn't be. i think they've talked of him leaving before... but it's all been false alarms until now. & the next day when she wakes and finds him gone, she's going to want to find him like nothing else. but it'll be too late & it'll be for the best.