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.
Rigid license severity
To drain the cup of misery
Put dirty water in their tea
Join them to the armies
What do the acts do they perform
In institution uniform
Pay in the price to pay for day
To spill or fritter away
Loosefish bad egg sad lot scapegrace
All my magnitude stops the irons entering my soul
Here I stand and I can and I like it
Rigid license severity
To drain the cup of misery
Put dirty water in their tea
Join them to the armies
Rigid license severity
Graceless is the place to be
To drain the cup of misery
To the dregs the only place to be
I'm a man seeing if I can be a bigger man
And be the big world holder
And wear it on my shoulder
Confiscate all the hearts and minds of all human kind
And give a daring operation
To deflect all life's afflictions
Nastiness disease squandermania prevails
Loosefish bad egg sad lot scapegrace
Here I stand and I can and I like it
To have no being be the null and void
To be no more leave no rack behind
So I dissolve away
So to be such stuff as dreams are made
Rigid license severity
Graceless is the place to be
To drain the cup of misery
To the dregs the only place to be
Nastiness and diseases will
Choose me any path it pleases
I don't sleep I die
My bed is always closing in on me
I desolve
Void
Vacuum
Goosegash
(?)
(?)
Loosefish
I will stake all my pride against my suicide
And wear upon my shoulder
The mark of a good soldier
Malice having the itchy palm
With a sparing hand
Making ducks and drakes of evil
With a lesser form of people
I'm a man seeing if I can be a bigger man
And be the big world holder
And wear it on my shoulder
Confiscate all the hearts and minds of all human kind
And give a daring operation
To deflect all life's afflictions
I will stake all my pride against my suicide
And wear upon my shoulder
The mark of a good soldier
Malice having the itchy palm
With a sparing hand
Making ducks and drakes of evil
With a lesser form of people
To drain the cup of misery
Put dirty water in their tea
Join them to the armies
What do the acts do they perform
In institution uniform
Pay in the price to pay for day
To spill or fritter away
Loosefish bad egg sad lot scapegrace
All my magnitude stops the irons entering my soul
Here I stand and I can and I like it
Rigid license severity
To drain the cup of misery
Put dirty water in their tea
Join them to the armies
Rigid license severity
Graceless is the place to be
To drain the cup of misery
To the dregs the only place to be
I'm a man seeing if I can be a bigger man
And be the big world holder
And wear it on my shoulder
Confiscate all the hearts and minds of all human kind
And give a daring operation
To deflect all life's afflictions
Nastiness disease squandermania prevails
Loosefish bad egg sad lot scapegrace
Here I stand and I can and I like it
To have no being be the null and void
To be no more leave no rack behind
So I dissolve away
So to be such stuff as dreams are made
Rigid license severity
Graceless is the place to be
To drain the cup of misery
To the dregs the only place to be
Nastiness and diseases will
Choose me any path it pleases
I don't sleep I die
My bed is always closing in on me
I desolve
Void
Vacuum
Goosegash
(?)
(?)
Loosefish
I will stake all my pride against my suicide
And wear upon my shoulder
The mark of a good soldier
Malice having the itchy palm
With a sparing hand
Making ducks and drakes of evil
With a lesser form of people
I'm a man seeing if I can be a bigger man
And be the big world holder
And wear it on my shoulder
Confiscate all the hearts and minds of all human kind
And give a daring operation
To deflect all life's afflictions
I will stake all my pride against my suicide
And wear upon my shoulder
The mark of a good soldier
Malice having the itchy palm
With a sparing hand
Making ducks and drakes of evil
With a lesser form of people
Lyrics submitted by Spacecow
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I love this song. How is this band not more popular?
so - are these the thoughts that run through a man's head when he joins the armed forces - wrestling with whether his job is truly as ethical as it is said to be...?