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!
In the beginning
There was a hum
From a poet whose pulse fell
Drum drum drum!
He would perform prayers and all
Till one day he heard a voice call
Come come come!
Suspicious he moved
With vicious caution
Dismisses,
He thinks is a little often
People get held back
By the void inside 'em.
Yo!
The void said,
I'm poised to speak inside you
"Rejoice then please let me invite you
To evil, greed and lies too."
Yeah!
Confused and dazed
He moved in ways
He soon became "Hakuna"
A knock on his door, his heart is no more
A knock on his door, his soul is no more
Yeah
That was in the beginning
As the story goes on
So
The poets got a proposal
He would always hope but never know
What it feels
To be free.
He would be the frozen
Imposed as the chosen,
All laws oppose him
But it would be greed.
That's got him there
He's power-hungry,
And proud too.
People don't care, people just care
Evil don't care, evil just care
Yeah!
That was In the beginning
There was a hum.
Then things changed.
They say
It is better to light a candle than to curse the dark in the eyes of the youth
There are question marks
Like freedom.
Freedom for the mind and soul,
We don't see them.
See them for their worth at all,
That's why we lead'em
Lead'em to these wars
And what is it we feed 'em.
Feed em our impurities
And who it is we treat 'em
Treat em like the enemy
Humanity will need'em.
Need 'em like the blood we spill
And we're freedom
Freedom for the hearts we fill
We mislead 'em.
They hunger for the love we give
But we cheat 'em.
The guys beat him and all he wants
Is his freedom,
So they defeat him,
Whatever spirit hes got.
Beat him!
And they teach him
The rest of the world don't need him
And he believes.
In the disease that hes heathen
Put up your fists if all you want is freedom
Put up your fists if all you want is
That was in the beginning
Then things changed
Yeah!
And we keep holdin' on,
And we keep bein' strong
And we keep goin' on
And on and on and on
In the beginning
There was a hum
From a poet whose pulse fell
Drum drum drum!
He would perform prayers and all
Till one day he heard a voice call
Come come come!
Suspicious he moved
With vicious caution
Dismisses,
He thinks is a little often
People get held back
By the void inside 'em.
Yo!
The void said,
I'm poised to speak inside you
"Rejoice then please let me invite you
To evil, greed and lies too."
Yeah!
Confused and dazed
He moved in ways
He soon became "Hakuna"
A knock on his door, his heart is no more
A knock on his door, his soul is no more
Yeah
That was in the beginning
As the story goes on
So
The poets got a proposal
He would always hope but never know
What it feels
To be free.
He would be the frozen
Imposed as the chosen,
All laws oppose him
But it would be greed.
That's got him there
He's power-hungry,
And proud too.
People don't care, people just care
Evil don't care, evil just care
Yeah!
That was In the beginning
There was a hum.
Then things changed.
They say
It is better to light a candle than to curse the dark in the eyes of the youth
There are question marks
Like freedom.
Freedom for the mind and soul,
We don't see them.
See them for their worth at all,
That's why we lead'em
Lead'em to these wars
And what is it we feed 'em.
Feed em our impurities
And who it is we treat 'em
Treat em like the enemy
Humanity will need'em.
Need 'em like the blood we spill
And we're freedom
Freedom for the hearts we fill
We mislead 'em.
They hunger for the love we give
But we cheat 'em.
The guys beat him and all he wants
Is his freedom,
So they defeat him,
Whatever spirit hes got.
Beat him!
And they teach him
The rest of the world don't need him
And he believes.
In the disease that hes heathen
Put up your fists if all you want is freedom
Put up your fists if all you want is
That was in the beginning
Then things changed
Yeah!
And we keep holdin' on,
And we keep bein' strong
And we keep goin' on
And on and on and on
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Wow nobody's commented on K'Naan... Well this song is amazing! I love the contrast of the grief he's discussing and the le le le le la's. Also it seems that "the poet" is K'Naan talking about himself... just a guess cuz his rap is quite poetic. I really like the line "people don't care, people just pray," cuz its so true. And thank you hoobidty for posting the lyrics even though they aren't all there but its a great start!
i actually found them on a page on last.fm and i edited them a little to what i thought was said. but k'naan is extremely hard to understand in this song at times. i personally like the live version much more because there seems to be a little more emotion in it. but all in all, k'naan is amazing
i actually found them on a page on last.fm and i edited them a little to what i thought was said. but k'naan is extremely hard to understand in this song at times. i personally like the live version much more because there seems to be a little more emotion in it. but all in all, k'naan is amazing
k'naan's grandfather was a poet, so maybe he has something to do with this song. also k'naan grew up in somalia during the somali civil war and i know a lot of his songs were influenced by his experience.
K'naan is a gutter man, I saw him live and he played this, it was too proper. He is my hero I love him.
what a beautiful song. its filled with so much life and movement. the rap scene definitely need knaan to rejuvenate a soul back into it beyond club songs. a fresh taste of music.
Ye someone here mentioned his grandfather, I believe he is speaking of his grandfather and father in the song. Like when he says "one day he heard a voice call Come come come," may be referring to when his father moved to NYC and found freedom there