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 was wasted on the trigger
in the river i was waiting
i was wanting, never wanting
what i could not yet become
let the sea change let's remember
all the good i did the ending
was no more than spare repentance
this is nothing like my home
on the table i was ready
blood it glistened, gods they listened
running wild after chalice
just to let them take me on
see the whirling of the skylights
beasts surround me all around me
trains pull out from under mantles
just to listen with us all
and with colors captivating
Eleanor stood cold and waiting
she was bathing me in blessings
that confronted as i cried
see the whole of me igniting
clever hands with brushes biting
cross the river to the tower
with remains of every sacrifice inside
oh my precious daemon darlings
come to hold me death unfold me
color move me too the chambers
where i know i feel alive
dance in circles atop grasses
crossing over lo, behold her i
n the places of our reaches
where the beasts upset their lives
but the water ceased to bargain
we are stranded where we've landed
break the circle take us back
to where we feel we need to be
watching careful the completion
of the cosmos where the zygote
sleeping sound now that i've found
my dearest friend outside my door
bound for new life, masons thunder
east is over, west is under
found the hum of drag race runners
comfort flaring in my sheets
now we'll head back up to Monmouth
where the kids are seldom honest
cross the borders, past the train yards
i will enter just to breathe
but the time will come for lovers
we will cradle one another
we will wander past the distance
for our merry mouths to meet
in the river i was waiting
i was wanting, never wanting
what i could not yet become
let the sea change let's remember
all the good i did the ending
was no more than spare repentance
this is nothing like my home
on the table i was ready
blood it glistened, gods they listened
running wild after chalice
just to let them take me on
see the whirling of the skylights
beasts surround me all around me
trains pull out from under mantles
just to listen with us all
and with colors captivating
Eleanor stood cold and waiting
she was bathing me in blessings
that confronted as i cried
see the whole of me igniting
clever hands with brushes biting
cross the river to the tower
with remains of every sacrifice inside
oh my precious daemon darlings
come to hold me death unfold me
color move me too the chambers
where i know i feel alive
dance in circles atop grasses
crossing over lo, behold her i
n the places of our reaches
where the beasts upset their lives
but the water ceased to bargain
we are stranded where we've landed
break the circle take us back
to where we feel we need to be
watching careful the completion
of the cosmos where the zygote
sleeping sound now that i've found
my dearest friend outside my door
bound for new life, masons thunder
east is over, west is under
found the hum of drag race runners
comfort flaring in my sheets
now we'll head back up to Monmouth
where the kids are seldom honest
cross the borders, past the train yards
i will enter just to breathe
but the time will come for lovers
we will cradle one another
we will wander past the distance
for our merry mouths to meet
Lyrics submitted by Seth17
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Light Up The Sky
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
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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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Mental Istid
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Such a great song.