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.
Dripping wet with practiced sincerity,
cute slogans for intangible mysteries
You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego)
to a TV commercial,
"Buy what I sell! (advertise, advertise!") you you scream,
"Purchase my lifestyle!"
I once held the key but now I have nothing
You are so naive,
I'm sorry for leading you along
I'm just a man
Wake me up and wipe the cliches from my eyes,
It's killing me when all I see is hypocrisy and lies
I know that my faults bring me down, it's a constant battle
That's why I have to be honest with you now
I'm not your saint, I'm not your savior
I once held the key to everything you ever dreamed of
Now I have nothing,
I'm sorry for leading you along
I'm just a man
cute slogans for intangible mysteries
You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego)
to a TV commercial,
"Buy what I sell! (advertise, advertise!") you you scream,
"Purchase my lifestyle!"
I once held the key but now I have nothing
You are so naive,
I'm sorry for leading you along
I'm just a man
Wake me up and wipe the cliches from my eyes,
It's killing me when all I see is hypocrisy and lies
I know that my faults bring me down, it's a constant battle
That's why I have to be honest with you now
I'm not your saint, I'm not your savior
I once held the key to everything you ever dreamed of
Now I have nothing,
I'm sorry for leading you along
I'm just a man
Lyrics submitted by topherc3103
Just a Man Lyrics as written by Ken Gormly Gregory Perkins
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego) to a tv commercial, "Buy what I sell! (advertise, advertise!)" you scream, "Purchase my lifestyle!""
this personally reminds me of christian televangelists.
that's what i thought as well.
This song makes a lot more sense to me now that you've said that (and thanks to some of the posts below as well).
True, but not just televangelists. Walk into a Christian bookstore and you'll find out a lot of companies sell out the Christian image. Cheesy T-shirts, cheesy movies, cheesy music. All cheesy products, companies sell to make mucho profits, not to actually spread the word. On Tv many televangelists like Joel Osteen promoting themselves instead of Christ with their feel good message of no consequences and the whole Prosperity Gospel, the idea that wealth is a good measure of God's favor. Companies scramble to sell their next Bible Translation by tearing at the last. And then sell them at ludicrous prices to unsuspecting newbies who think everything needs to be explained at 2nd grade level for them to understand so they get versions that have commentaries that explain every redundancy and explain how the previous translators are stupid and how they are "experts". And then there are apologists that forgo their faith so they sound smarter. "God didn't really create life, we evolved" as some would say almost excluding his presence and calling God a liar without really looking at the evidence and making an opinion.