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.
Good evening
Alright
Yeah
Happy to be breathing
Yeah
I am alive
Yeah
(You look like you’ve seen a ghost)
Most copious
Rains soak the opiates
Notice how the phobias appropriately procreate
Woke up with a ghost farm focused on his groceries
When they aren’t telling stories they are multiplying grossly
On the lawn
Let 'em loiter
Never let 'em spawn
The aberrations have been drinking this water for too long
So when they gather by the bird bath in the morning he will tell 'em
“I mean no disrespect, but you have all outstayed your welcome”
Interesting in a sense
Interrupt commiserating phantoms on your picket fence
How quickly they will lift their heads
And breathe an ultimatum like “the dead don’t argue”
Set your living by the bayonet, but how alive are you?
Shit, A is all juice and bad etiquette
Elbows on the table, lobster bibbin' on the ready
He said “but how alive?”
“I don’t know homey, you decide”
(“No you decide”)
Fine, how alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
And one by one around the yard ‘til each one felt communal pride
Like they had done a little part in cleaning up the public
With a steaming plate of justice for them Easy Baker stomachs
(say what?)
We the legends that home with the unremembered
Geriatric lore in the clutch of the budding censor
Who snuck around the art police and all related governments
To infiltrate a human lung and hike up off his tongue and lip
Ah… money’s in the market for a mother-ship
Double as a vessel that drag its legacy under it
And who am I to hang them out to dry by the heap?
When if rehydrating fails, we’re all dumber because of me
Zombies of the antiquated nation chatter quietly
The too alive channel from the library of rivalry
And summer's in the mud
Winter's by the tracks
No story goes untold
Aes is back
I got a handful rocking the same poker face
Down to dance around the table like they own the place
I got the whole world thinking it’s a holiday
‘Cause they can smell the chum in the water from miles away
(You look like you’ve seen a ghost)
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
Alright
Yeah
Happy to be breathing
Yeah
I am alive
Yeah
(You look like you’ve seen a ghost)
Most copious
Rains soak the opiates
Notice how the phobias appropriately procreate
Woke up with a ghost farm focused on his groceries
When they aren’t telling stories they are multiplying grossly
On the lawn
Let 'em loiter
Never let 'em spawn
The aberrations have been drinking this water for too long
So when they gather by the bird bath in the morning he will tell 'em
“I mean no disrespect, but you have all outstayed your welcome”
Interesting in a sense
Interrupt commiserating phantoms on your picket fence
How quickly they will lift their heads
And breathe an ultimatum like “the dead don’t argue”
Set your living by the bayonet, but how alive are you?
Shit, A is all juice and bad etiquette
Elbows on the table, lobster bibbin' on the ready
He said “but how alive?”
“I don’t know homey, you decide”
(“No you decide”)
Fine, how alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
And one by one around the yard ‘til each one felt communal pride
Like they had done a little part in cleaning up the public
With a steaming plate of justice for them Easy Baker stomachs
(say what?)
We the legends that home with the unremembered
Geriatric lore in the clutch of the budding censor
Who snuck around the art police and all related governments
To infiltrate a human lung and hike up off his tongue and lip
Ah… money’s in the market for a mother-ship
Double as a vessel that drag its legacy under it
And who am I to hang them out to dry by the heap?
When if rehydrating fails, we’re all dumber because of me
Zombies of the antiquated nation chatter quietly
The too alive channel from the library of rivalry
And summer's in the mud
Winter's by the tracks
No story goes untold
Aes is back
I got a handful rocking the same poker face
Down to dance around the table like they own the place
I got the whole world thinking it’s a holiday
‘Cause they can smell the chum in the water from miles away
(You look like you’ve seen a ghost)
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
How alive?
Too alive
Lyrics submitted by mattchambers
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This might be my favorite song off None Shall Pass. The lyrics are so poetic and biting, and I hope my inevitable mid-life crisis won't be half as bad as the one here.. phobias/insecurities really can take a life of their own
btw I can't take credit for these lyrics.. I found them on another site, just like the ones for Catacomb Kids (those lyrics I fixed up quite a lot, though), but I wanted them to be on songmeanings
Ghosts or Skeletons on his front lawn: Things that he's never rapped about before and they aren't going away.
One of the best albums of 07.
Def Jux CCWM
Nice anthem of self confidence and purpose. Combined with the feeling of coming out of a funk or a state where the soul has atrophied a little. Very uplifting and happy.
Of course there's plenty of mention of the specifics - such as not letting sales numbers decide how alive, instead being true to the art and letting the fans decide.