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.
I've got a friend who carries flowers everywhere he goes
He picks a new one everyday and everybody knows (I broke his heart)
I've got a friend who brought a picture frame on his trip across the world
But he broke it back in Denver, never made it to his girl in California
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
You turned it on, you turned it off
A broken heart just keeps on breaking
I've got a friend in Guatemala who swears he's given up
no conozco esperanza, and I don't believe in God (not anymore)
I've got a friend who talks to Jesus to heal her broken heart
She's holding onto pieces she's never even thought of letting go
We're still so young but our time is running out
This world keeps spinning round and round and round
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
You turned it on, you turned it off
A broken heart just keeps on breaking
On and on and on
One hand's on my heart, the other covering my eyes
I must confess: I am the lie, I am the love song
But I have never seen the light
What I feel for you is more than love
You turned me on, you turned me off
You come in warm and leave me shaking
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
You turned me on, you turned me off
A broken heart just keeps on breaking
On and on and on
We don't have much time to get this right
I've waited here a hundred years with my lover's heartbeat
You better get your kiss before it's midnight
Echoing distant miles, think of intense desire
Don't you get the set? It's now or never
One shot through, and we are young
And the sun is still strong
To find the song you love and dance forever
Forever
He picks a new one everyday and everybody knows (I broke his heart)
I've got a friend who brought a picture frame on his trip across the world
But he broke it back in Denver, never made it to his girl in California
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
You turned it on, you turned it off
A broken heart just keeps on breaking
I've got a friend in Guatemala who swears he's given up
no conozco esperanza, and I don't believe in God (not anymore)
I've got a friend who talks to Jesus to heal her broken heart
She's holding onto pieces she's never even thought of letting go
We're still so young but our time is running out
This world keeps spinning round and round and round
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
You turned it on, you turned it off
A broken heart just keeps on breaking
On and on and on
One hand's on my heart, the other covering my eyes
I must confess: I am the lie, I am the love song
But I have never seen the light
What I feel for you is more than love
You turned me on, you turned me off
You come in warm and leave me shaking
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
You turned me on, you turned me off
A broken heart just keeps on breaking
On and on and on
We don't have much time to get this right
I've waited here a hundred years with my lover's heartbeat
You better get your kiss before it's midnight
Echoing distant miles, think of intense desire
Don't you get the set? It's now or never
One shot through, and we are young
And the sun is still strong
To find the song you love and dance forever
Forever
Lyrics submitted by JaymeEatWorld
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
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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
I think intense desire would make more sense, so I'll go with that lol.