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.
Take a look and see for yourself what makes a man
A man, and I will step back to the life I left
Maybe you won't forget who I am
Wake up in the middle of the night
Just don't believe every thing's all right when these
Thoughts are running around your head
And it's late, so you don't really want to say goodbye
So you just head down the stairs that lead you out
The sound of silence is as loud as a gunshot
"Forgive me" were the only words they read on the note you left
Singing,oh, can't find any way out
I wish I could live where the sea meets the land
The ocean and I would be the best of friends
I'd make her my own. I would float in her waves
She would sing me to sleep as she carries me away
Won't you carry me away?
Oh,please, carry me away
Ocean, carry me away, you're my better half
Singing, oh, can't find any way out
(I don't really want to sing anymore
There's got to be something I could live for, so just show me now
Everyday is just another regret
It's time for me to give it a rest and it's over now)
A man, and I will step back to the life I left
Maybe you won't forget who I am
Wake up in the middle of the night
Just don't believe every thing's all right when these
Thoughts are running around your head
And it's late, so you don't really want to say goodbye
So you just head down the stairs that lead you out
The sound of silence is as loud as a gunshot
"Forgive me" were the only words they read on the note you left
Singing,oh, can't find any way out
I wish I could live where the sea meets the land
The ocean and I would be the best of friends
I'd make her my own. I would float in her waves
She would sing me to sleep as she carries me away
Won't you carry me away?
Oh,please, carry me away
Ocean, carry me away, you're my better half
Singing, oh, can't find any way out
(I don't really want to sing anymore
There's got to be something I could live for, so just show me now
Everyday is just another regret
It's time for me to give it a rest and it's over now)
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More Featured Meanings
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"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is about a man whose wife kills herself. "Forgive me, you are the only one" is actually "'Forgive me' were the only words they read on the note you left".
The song is about how this man is trying to live without his wife "I don’t really want to sing anymore, there’s got to be something I can live for"
I think "what makes a man a man" talks about even though his life seems meaningless, he isn't going to take the easy way out.
I think this song is about a one night stand.
And it's late, so you don't really want to say goodbye, so you just head down the stairs that lead you out. The sound of silence is as loud as a gunshot. "Forgive me" were the only words they read on the note you left.
He doesn't bother to wake her up because he feels so bad about what has happened. And (not to be sexist) that's what makes a man a man.
I'm not saying you're wrong, because honestly when it comes to song meanings, there really is no wrong, but I think TheManipulator is more right, just because of the end. I don't think emery, being a band of christians, think that that's what makes a man a man. Not giving up hope, even in the hardest times is what makes a man a man...
I think TheManipulator is correct with the suicide reference
"The sound of silence is as loud as a gunshot" referring to the fact that she killed herself quietly (drugs, etc..) but but the significance of the silence might as well rang out like a gun shot...
then the "'Forgive me' were the only words they read on the note you left". is obviously the suicide note...
He now has nothing to live for and wants to die... floating away on the ocean is a way of giving up and surrendering to his emotions and let everything go...
What makes a man a man is dealing with your life and the circumstances around it... no matter how difficult and hopeless everything feels.
i love this song. i think it's about feeling lost since his girlfriend/wife has left him. i think the title means what he makes out of himself to be after the whole dilemna. some of the lyrics above are wrong.
he's trapped in a rut with someone he cant learn to appreciate, so he spends his time dreaming about someone else.
easily one of the best cuts off of the new album. extremely emotional, almost reminds me of "win win situation"
what parts are wrong? i listened the best i could but i know i did miss a couple things. help is appreciated.
i miss the old emery.
This is about a man whose wife kills herself. "Forgive me, you are the only one" is actually "'Forgive me' were the only words they read on the note you left".
The song is about how this man is trying to live without his wife "I don’t really want to sing anymore, there’s got to be something I can live for"
I think "what makes a man a man" talks about even though his life seems meaningless, he isn't going to take the easy way out.
I partly agree with several of the comments already left. I think he's stuck, he's trying to appreciate someone who he can't. But also escaping by having meaningless flings. None of it means much to him anymore though he wishes it did. To say "take a look and see what makes a man a man" is, I think, a little sarcastic, kind of saying "i'm no man, i'm just a coward."
I think TheManipulator is correct with the suicide reference
"The sound of silence is as loud as a gunshot" referring to the fact that she killed herself quietly (drugs, etc..) but but the significance of the silence might as well rang out like a gun shot...
then the "'Forgive me' were the only words they read on the note you left". is obviously the suicide note...
He now has nothing to live for and wants to die... floating away on the ocean is a way of giving up and surrendering to his emotions and let everything go...
What makes a man a man is dealing with your life and the circumstances around it... no matter how difficult and hopeless everything feels.