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.
so you don't like the way
we're running things?
and you don't like the
way the chisel glang?
you want to blame it
on the government
on why you got to money
for your rent?
you want to start
a revolution?
and blame it on the
institution? you know
there's only one solution
now tell me what you're
gonna do son?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
you wanna blame them
boys in lebanon and
act like you don't know
where they get it from?
you want to project
all your problems
and murder every way
to solve them?
would jesus christ
come back american?
what if he's iraqi
and here again?
you'd have to finally face
your fears, my friend
who's gonna hold your
hand when that happens?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
what do you teach
your children about me?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
pimp. thug. bling. drug lord
of the underground kings
how can you be sure i won't
call down the rain?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
you point your gun
wait hide and run
i see it plain
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
so what you gonna do
what you gonna do
we're running things?
and you don't like the
way the chisel glang?
you want to blame it
on the government
on why you got to money
for your rent?
you want to start
a revolution?
and blame it on the
institution? you know
there's only one solution
now tell me what you're
gonna do son?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
you wanna blame them
boys in lebanon and
act like you don't know
where they get it from?
you want to project
all your problems
and murder every way
to solve them?
would jesus christ
come back american?
what if he's iraqi
and here again?
you'd have to finally face
your fears, my friend
who's gonna hold your
hand when that happens?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
what do you teach
your children about me?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
pimp. thug. bling. drug lord
of the underground kings
how can you be sure i won't
call down the rain?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
you point your gun
wait hide and run
i see it plain
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
so what you gonna do
what you gonna do
Lyrics submitted by swollen uvula
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
This is the last song I wrote before going into the studio to mix the album. Welcome to the Terrordome is easily my fave PE track. The line that I sampled actually comes before my favorite part of the song, the little break with the high pitched James Brown guitar riff. When I made that loop it scared the shit out of me. I danced to it for hours, too excited to even write to it. When I did, the lyrics and chorus came immediately. The 2nd verse has my favorite line of the album, "would Jesus Christ come back American? What if he's Iraqi and here again?". Then came the break, which I immediately attributed to the fact that I had been working with Trent for a year and he had made me a better song writer. I remember being very scared of the power of this song. I knew how it made me feel as a black man. I tried to pay special attention to how I crafted it musically and lyrically so that it would invoke dancing rather than violence. But seriously, to me, this song is hard as hell. I cry everytime I get to that breakdown. And then I bounce back and feel like I can fly. -Saul Williams saulwilliams.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi