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.
Ay
Let me kick it to you right quick, man
Not on some gangsta shit man, on some real shit
Anybody done been through the same thing, I'm sure you feel the same way
Big Phil
This for you pimpin'
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
Ever had one of them days wish would've stayed home
Run into a group of niggas who gettin' they hate on
You walk by
They get wrong
You reply then shit get blown
Way outta proportion
Way past discussion
Just you against them, pick one then rush 'em
Figure you'll get jumped, hell that's nothing
They don't wanna stop there now they bussin'
Now you gushin', ambulance rushin'
You to the hospital with a bad concussion
Plus ya hit four times
But it hit yo spine
Paralyzed waist down now ya wheel chair bound
Nevermind that now you lucky to be alive
Just think it all started you fussin' with three guys
Now ya pride in the way, but ya pride is the way
You could fuck around, get shot, die any day
Niggas die everyday
All over bullshit, dope money, dice game, ordinary hood shit
Could this be 'cause of hip hop music?
Or did the ones with the good sense not use it?
Usually niggas don't know what to do
When their back against the wall so they just start shootin'
For red or for blue or for blow I guess
From Bankhead up to your projects
No more stress, now I'm straight, now I get it, now I take
Time to think, before I make mistakes just for my family's sake
That part of me left yesterday
The heart of me is strong today
No regrets I'm blessed to say
The old me dead and gone away
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
I ain't never been scared, I lived through tragic
Situation could've been dead lookin' back at it
Most of that shit didn't even have to happen
But you don't think about it when you out there trappin'
In apartments, hangin', smokin', and rappin'
Niggas start shit, next thing ya know we cappin'
Get locked up then didn't even get mad
Now think about damn what a life I had
Most of that shit, look back, just laugh
Some shit still look back get sad
Maybe my homeboy still be around
Had I not hit the nigga in the mouth that time
I won that fight
I lost that war
I can still see my nigga walkin' out that door
Who'da thought I'd never see Philant no more?
Got enough dead homies I don't want no more
Cost a nigga his job
Cost me more
I'da took that ass-whooping now for sure
Now think before I risk my life
Take them chances to get my stripe
A nigga put his hands on me alright
Otherwise stand there talk shit all night, so
'Cause I hit you, and you sue me
I shoot you, get locked up, who? Me?
No more stress, now I'm straight, now I get it, now I take
Time to think, before I make mistakes just for my family's sake
That part of me left yesterday
The heart of me is strong today
No regrets I'm blessed to say
The old me dead and gone away
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
(Hey, ayy)
I turn my head to the East
I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the West
Still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the North
Swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me is dead and gone
But that new me will be alright
I turn my head to the East
I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the West
Still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the North
Swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me is dead and gone
But that new me will be alright, 'cause
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone, yeah
Let me kick it to you right quick, man
Not on some gangsta shit man, on some real shit
Anybody done been through the same thing, I'm sure you feel the same way
Big Phil
This for you pimpin'
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
Ever had one of them days wish would've stayed home
Run into a group of niggas who gettin' they hate on
You walk by
They get wrong
You reply then shit get blown
Way outta proportion
Way past discussion
Just you against them, pick one then rush 'em
Figure you'll get jumped, hell that's nothing
They don't wanna stop there now they bussin'
Now you gushin', ambulance rushin'
You to the hospital with a bad concussion
Plus ya hit four times
But it hit yo spine
Paralyzed waist down now ya wheel chair bound
Nevermind that now you lucky to be alive
Just think it all started you fussin' with three guys
Now ya pride in the way, but ya pride is the way
You could fuck around, get shot, die any day
Niggas die everyday
All over bullshit, dope money, dice game, ordinary hood shit
Could this be 'cause of hip hop music?
Or did the ones with the good sense not use it?
Usually niggas don't know what to do
When their back against the wall so they just start shootin'
For red or for blue or for blow I guess
From Bankhead up to your projects
No more stress, now I'm straight, now I get it, now I take
Time to think, before I make mistakes just for my family's sake
That part of me left yesterday
The heart of me is strong today
No regrets I'm blessed to say
The old me dead and gone away
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
I ain't never been scared, I lived through tragic
Situation could've been dead lookin' back at it
Most of that shit didn't even have to happen
But you don't think about it when you out there trappin'
In apartments, hangin', smokin', and rappin'
Niggas start shit, next thing ya know we cappin'
Get locked up then didn't even get mad
Now think about damn what a life I had
Most of that shit, look back, just laugh
Some shit still look back get sad
Maybe my homeboy still be around
Had I not hit the nigga in the mouth that time
I won that fight
I lost that war
I can still see my nigga walkin' out that door
Who'da thought I'd never see Philant no more?
Got enough dead homies I don't want no more
Cost a nigga his job
Cost me more
I'da took that ass-whooping now for sure
Now think before I risk my life
Take them chances to get my stripe
A nigga put his hands on me alright
Otherwise stand there talk shit all night, so
'Cause I hit you, and you sue me
I shoot you, get locked up, who? Me?
No more stress, now I'm straight, now I get it, now I take
Time to think, before I make mistakes just for my family's sake
That part of me left yesterday
The heart of me is strong today
No regrets I'm blessed to say
The old me dead and gone away
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
(Hey, ayy)
I turn my head to the East
I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the West
Still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the North
Swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me is dead and gone
But that new me will be alright
I turn my head to the East
I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the West
Still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the North
Swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me is dead and gone
But that new me will be alright, 'cause
Ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone
And ooh (hey) I've been travelin' on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone, yeah
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I think it a direct reflection on his life, particularly last year's gun charges. He's realizing how serious that was and that it nearly cost him a lot. Seems like he's maturing and reflecting on his life as of late.