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.
Comes and goes
Like in fits and dizzy spells
Like the weather
And it blows
Like it knows what's going wrong
Like it's clever
Has a name but the name goes unspoken
Weather wanes
Were all twisted and broken
So soldier on, soldier on
Flailing to the whir of a snack machine
And muted screams of an old regime
And then oh
Something get is in it
The nightshade gets in it
We were all fast asleep
Were all so fast asleep
But you woke us
You woke us from the strangest dream that
An aubergine could ever know
Would ever know
Lava flows over crooks and craggy
Cliffs to the ocean
And explodes in a steam heat fevered
Cyclical motion
Has a name
But the name goes unspoken
It's in vain
Cause the language is broken
So cast your own, cast your own
Soldier on
Like in fits and dizzy spells
Like the weather
And it blows
Like it knows what's going wrong
Like it's clever
Has a name but the name goes unspoken
Weather wanes
Were all twisted and broken
So soldier on, soldier on
Flailing to the whir of a snack machine
And muted screams of an old regime
And then oh
Something get is in it
The nightshade gets in it
We were all fast asleep
Were all so fast asleep
But you woke us
You woke us from the strangest dream that
An aubergine could ever know
Would ever know
Lava flows over crooks and craggy
Cliffs to the ocean
And explodes in a steam heat fevered
Cyclical motion
Has a name
But the name goes unspoken
It's in vain
Cause the language is broken
So cast your own, cast your own
Soldier on
Lyrics submitted by wild_ cosmia
Fitz And The Dizzyspells Lyrics as written by Andrew Wegman Bird
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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And it gloats like it knows what's going on...
Lava flows over crooks and cragged cliffs...
It's in vain 'cause that language...
Also, I had: And then oh, something gets in The nausea gets in
I'm not 100% on that, and I'm also quite sure it's not "regime" in that second instance.
I'm almost positive it's "nightshade gets in it," and this makes sense in context. Nightshade is a family of plants, some of which are poisonous to humans and are known to cause things like hallucinations. An aubergine is another word for an eggplant, which is actually a type of nightshade. Eggplants obviously don't normally cause hallucinations, but I'm sure he just liked the word aubergine. Thus, "you woke us from the strangest dream that an aubergine could ever know" is a reference to hallucinations caused by the nightshade. I don't know what the actual metaphor is behind that, but it's pretty.
I don't think he wants anyone to know what he's talking about.<br /> <br /> Look at it from the perspective of a soldier though and not just because of the "soldier on" reference. I don't know the artist well enough to say he's making a political statement, but I can get that from it.