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.
Harbor Ann, take me as I am
A flame reduced to ash
Laugh as my youth is taken from me
Winter's day, am I in your way?
You press against my skin
All the flowery speeches ended fast
Clinking glass
The champagne made my head feel light
And overcast the stars
Paper crane, tell me it's OK
An opera glasses view
Kaleidoscope of now and never
Gaia's love, schizophrenia
The devil's in my coat
Mothership coming to pick me up
Just my luck
They got my house surrounded
I'm the only one I trust
The dark light of man
The dark let him in
Synesthete, can I confide in thee?
The color is the sound
The screams were orange
My footsteps silver
Secret plan, man, I'll tell you if I can
The evils of this world are at your doorstep
Let me enter, friend, understand
We have come to the convergence
Now all the paths combine
A flame reduced to ash
Laugh as my youth is taken from me
Winter's day, am I in your way?
You press against my skin
All the flowery speeches ended fast
Clinking glass
The champagne made my head feel light
And overcast the stars
Paper crane, tell me it's OK
An opera glasses view
Kaleidoscope of now and never
Gaia's love, schizophrenia
The devil's in my coat
Mothership coming to pick me up
Just my luck
They got my house surrounded
I'm the only one I trust
The dark light of man
The dark let him in
Synesthete, can I confide in thee?
The color is the sound
The screams were orange
My footsteps silver
Secret plan, man, I'll tell you if I can
The evils of this world are at your doorstep
Let me enter, friend, understand
We have come to the convergence
Now all the paths combine
Lyrics submitted by mytwohands
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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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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.
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
by the way their are multiple sine wave manipulations in this song, the most notable being where he says "laugh as my youth is taken from me" it is a phoneme conversion where he changes it to "life is my lease taken from me" this is also the joke in money lenders in the temple where he says " the parrot blues" because parrots reproduce the sine waves they hear to form language. i have thousands of other observations and discursive linkings so if anyone is truly interested contact me. my email is bionic_gypsy@yahoo.com
I'm pretty sure this is just about schizophrenia.. That makes complete sense. There is no real "figuring out" to do with this song. I think it is straight up talking about schizophrenia.
I'm with you 100%.
Synesthete: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
i don't know if it's just me, but this kind of sounds like the old stuff everyone probably thinks i'm crazy this song is fucking awesome
Just a couple of things, - I think it's "Harbor air," in the version I heard "watches my youth taken from me" & "the secrets of the world are at your doorstep" kudos for a pretty rockin' transcript ;-)
This song is very confusing. It's pretty much about Synethesia. There are alot of parts I dont't get though.
Synesthesia is a crazy thing though. I experience it every now and then. When I play music on a guitar certain notes or chords are certain colors (C is green G is brown D is yellow). But if im playing piano the colors change. Also colors vary with which octave I am playing them in. I don't experience it too much anymore though.
Obviously about zombies.
"They got my house surrounded I'm the only one I trust"
"The evils of this world are at your doorstep Let me enter, friend, understand We have come to the convergence Now all the paths combine"
Genuine synesthesia doesn't come from drugs, it happens on its own.
to williambleak -- I copied the lyrics out of the booklet that came with 'Gentleman's Pact' -- a small EP they were selling at his concert. they sound pretty spot on, so I'm just going to stick to the version I have up there unless someone presents something to persuade me :)
hahah this sounds precisely like some of the things i've jotted down while on dissociative drugs it sounds much better done by conor, though