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.
Some of us are born, and then some of us are born again.
Some of us are scared to death, and some just don't believe in it.
Something's always wrong, there's a line, an idea I can't get behind
No one knows what's right.
Some try, some just try to find a king, they sing
Who will save us now?
It's our life, but we don't want to live it.
We want to be told how
By something or someone who's better than us
Who we know we can trust,
Who will always protect us.
But keep us scared to death so we never ask questions,
Who'll dictate the consequences of our actions
And give us peace of mind about our miserable lives,
Confined and content, all we want is a place we can hide.
We can hide.
So we've always fought our wars for what we're told's worth dying for.
Land and love and God and wealth,
But men in charge protect themselves.
You can rest assured,
It's the young and the poor who fought all our wars.
Led to death by men,
Who they chose and hoped would protect them.
And who will save us now?
It's our life, but we don't want to live it.
And all you'll get is down
'Cause the people you elect to protect your best interest
Will just protect themselves and all their investments.
And even the few with the best of intentions
Will just push their views of what they think is right for you
And everyone else, you can't think for yourself
'Cause you've chosen to let someone else do it for you.
For you.
So we're left to drift between our waking life and all our dreams
Reality is relative and that's all the advice I'll give.
Life and death are hard,
They're such strange and complicated issues.
So listen, listen well for insight
No one knows what's right for you.
And who will save us now?
It's a wrong and irrelative question
'Cause we've figured it out.
With the people who love us,
Who call us their brothers through lessons we've learned
From our fathers and mothers, not looking for someone to bind our solutions,
To fight our own battles, or show what truth is,
By working hard to find our own peace of mind
Living and learning 'til we know what's right for our lives.
Our lives.
Some of us are scared to death, and some just don't believe in it.
Something's always wrong, there's a line, an idea I can't get behind
No one knows what's right.
Some try, some just try to find a king, they sing
Who will save us now?
It's our life, but we don't want to live it.
We want to be told how
By something or someone who's better than us
Who we know we can trust,
Who will always protect us.
But keep us scared to death so we never ask questions,
Who'll dictate the consequences of our actions
And give us peace of mind about our miserable lives,
Confined and content, all we want is a place we can hide.
We can hide.
So we've always fought our wars for what we're told's worth dying for.
Land and love and God and wealth,
But men in charge protect themselves.
You can rest assured,
It's the young and the poor who fought all our wars.
Led to death by men,
Who they chose and hoped would protect them.
And who will save us now?
It's our life, but we don't want to live it.
And all you'll get is down
'Cause the people you elect to protect your best interest
Will just protect themselves and all their investments.
And even the few with the best of intentions
Will just push their views of what they think is right for you
And everyone else, you can't think for yourself
'Cause you've chosen to let someone else do it for you.
For you.
So we're left to drift between our waking life and all our dreams
Reality is relative and that's all the advice I'll give.
Life and death are hard,
They're such strange and complicated issues.
So listen, listen well for insight
No one knows what's right for you.
And who will save us now?
It's a wrong and irrelative question
'Cause we've figured it out.
With the people who love us,
Who call us their brothers through lessons we've learned
From our fathers and mothers, not looking for someone to bind our solutions,
To fight our own battles, or show what truth is,
By working hard to find our own peace of mind
Living and learning 'til we know what's right for our lives.
Our lives.
Lyrics submitted by ellie117
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It quite clearly is a stab at the government saying that they are pushing their views onto people, and that people need to think for themselves. It is a amazing song and I think possibly the best on the album and I also agree with what ellie117 said about religion.