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.
As seven ticks to eight o'clock,
He rumbles down the stairs,
Mother's cooking in her kitchen, father is in his chair
The headline on the front page reads "the sun's coming out today",
Shining down in perfect streaks, it's anywhere USA.
With eyes wide open,
The sky is always a thousand shades of blue.
Probably broken, lost and lonely,
We're all just shades of you.
Can't you hear the school bells singing?
Hurry, don't be late.
Wandering the crowded hallways,
Searching for his place.
The writing on the chalk board reads,
"Who will be king this year?"
And even though he raised his hand,
No one knows he's there.
With arms wide open,
His life's becoming a thousand shades of blue,
Probably broken, lost and lonely,
We're all just shades of you.
There's no escaping where he's going,
A thousand shades of blue.
Probably hopeless, don't you notice?
We're all just shades of you.
He let the water run too deep,
Then he just slowly slipped on in,
And when he finds the nerve to breathe,
All they say is no one saw it coming.
Hear the sirens, the cops arriving,
A thousand shades of blue.
But it's hopeless, no one noticed,
We're all just shades of you.
With eyes wide open, they found him floating,
A thousand shades of blue.
There's no escaping where he's going,
We're all just shades of you.
He rumbles down the stairs,
Mother's cooking in her kitchen, father is in his chair
The headline on the front page reads "the sun's coming out today",
Shining down in perfect streaks, it's anywhere USA.
With eyes wide open,
The sky is always a thousand shades of blue.
Probably broken, lost and lonely,
We're all just shades of you.
Can't you hear the school bells singing?
Hurry, don't be late.
Wandering the crowded hallways,
Searching for his place.
The writing on the chalk board reads,
"Who will be king this year?"
And even though he raised his hand,
No one knows he's there.
With arms wide open,
His life's becoming a thousand shades of blue,
Probably broken, lost and lonely,
We're all just shades of you.
There's no escaping where he's going,
A thousand shades of blue.
Probably hopeless, don't you notice?
We're all just shades of you.
He let the water run too deep,
Then he just slowly slipped on in,
And when he finds the nerve to breathe,
All they say is no one saw it coming.
Hear the sirens, the cops arriving,
A thousand shades of blue.
But it's hopeless, no one noticed,
We're all just shades of you.
With eyes wide open, they found him floating,
A thousand shades of blue.
There's no escaping where he's going,
We're all just shades of you.
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
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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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Teenage suicide is defiantly the message in this song. I think it's about understanding that you are not alone whenever you're feeling depressed. The chorus to me indicates this by: "With arms wide open The sky is always A thousand shades of blue Partly broken lost and lonley We're all just shades of you"
I believe that part is talking directly to the male in the song. "We're all just shades of you," is the message that though the boy is depressed and feels like he's the only one who feels this way, Angel is telling him that everyone gets down sometimes and it's normal. Suicide doesn't have to be the answer.
"He let the water run too deep Then he just slowly slipped on in And when he finds the nerve to breathe All they say is no one saw it coming
Hear the sirens The cops arriving A thousand shades of blue But it's hopeless no one noticed We're all just shades of you With arms wide open They found him floating A thousand shades of blue There's no escaping where he's going We're all just shades of you"
I don't believe this part is about literally drowning. I think it's about drowning in his sorrows. "He let the water run too deep," as in he allowed his depression to take over his life and mind. Then - "When he found the nerve to breathe," indicated he finally release all of his pain and killed himself. "All they say is nobody saw it coming," meaning even though his dad was in his chair, mom was in the kitchen, and nobody saw him raise his hand to be king, - those people were so close to him but never noticed his sadness. "They found him floating, a thousand shades of blue." - Whenever you die, your body becomes blue. I think that's what its about. It also made the world sad (and blue) so now everyone is "Shades of you," referring to the male.
Maybe my interruption is out there but that is what I get from the beautiful song.
I love this song so much! Its so sad though. :(
Very deep and dark song. Inspirational too, as crazy as that sounds. It took me a few listens to realize this song was about teenage suicide. Ashley said that this song was written as a memory that stuck with him; a friend in high school who committed suicide, and shocked everyone.
But it's hopeless no one noticed We're all just shades of you
Very sad, but true.
I thought this song was about a kid drowning himself, because no one noticed him.
He let the water run to deep Then he just slowly slipped on in And when he finds the nerve to breathe (gasp) All they say is no one saw it coming
Hear the sirens The cops arriving A thousand shades of blue But it's hopeless no one noticed We're all just shades of you With eyes wide open They found him floating A thousand shades of blue There's no escaping where he's going They're all just shades of you
I can really relate to this song. This song is so sad. The "thousand shades of blue" symbolizes the many "shades" of sadness in everybody. The blue can all so symbolize the water. When he slowly slipped into the water can symbolize how he was slowly pushed to suicide. Things like this happen nearly everyday around the world. it is a very true but very sad facts among the world.