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.
There must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Business men they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
No one will level on the line
Nobody of it is worth
No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour's getting late
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance
A wild cat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Business men they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
No one will level on the line
Nobody of it is worth
No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour's getting late
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance
A wild cat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl
Lyrics submitted by lzphishhead, edited by somacep4sc
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I've noticed a large pattern on this site, in regards to common themes that people tend to think songs fit into. The big obvious one is religion, the other being the big social context of whatever period the song was written in. For the 60's and 70's every song is apparently about Vietnam, and for our current decade they're all reputably about 9-11, George Bush or the Iraq war. For some, this may be completely true and absolutely the case, but I have a hard time believing 90% of all songs ever made are either about Jebus or the then current/recent war.
With a song like this I can see how it would be easy to think its about Vietnam. Hell, until I really looked at the lyrics I would have agreed with you. The first four lines ("There must be some kind of way out of here", ext.) sound a lot like a statement on Vietnam. But if you get locked into that train of thought right off the bat then you're going to have to really stretch the rest of the lyrics to make it fit.
Granted, I don't know what its about. And hell, it might be about religion or Vietnam. But if you're gonna make the claim, you need more than one or two lines that sorta-kinda-maybe-could-be about your theory. I'm not trying to insult anyone here, and no offense is meant, but please try not to jump to conclusions so damn fast.
Additionally, I don't see why it (or most songs even) necessarily has to have another level of symbols and/or meaning. I think even taken at face value, taken literally, this is the start of one hell of an intriguing story.
As much as I want to agree about Jesus-freaks, I can't. All of the songs on Dylan's "John Wesley Harding" album are biblical.<br /> <br /> Whether Jimi wanted his version to be interpreted differently, I will never know, personally I find it unlikely, although Jimi did "...dedicate this song to all the soldiers in Vietnam" in his live performance in 1970.
See, this is what I'm talking about. You have evidence to suggest that this might be biblical, or in Hendrix's interpretation, about Vietnam. This may be one of those cases where it actually is about Jebus. But the point is you didn't reach that conclusion though some incredibly vague interpretation of lyrics.