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.
Black man, born free,
At least that's the way it's supposed to be;
The chains that bind him are hard to see,
Unless you take this walk with me;
The place where he lives, God, he gives them names
The 'Hood, 'The Projects, 'The Ghetto; they are one and the same;
And I call it 'Soulsville' ah, yeah.
Any kind of job is hard to find,
That means an increase in the welfare line;
The crime rate is rising too, but
If you are hungry, what would you do?
The rent is two months past due, in a building that's falling apart,
Little boy needs a new pair of shoes, and this is only a part of Soulsville
Some of the brothers' got plenty of cash, tricks on the corner is going to see to that,
Some like to smoke and some like to blow, some are even strung out on a $50 Jones
Trying to ditch reality, by getting so, high,
Only to find out, that you can never reach the sky,
Because your roots are in Soulsville, oh, yes they are.
Every Sunday morning, I can hear the church sisters sing 'Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Trusting the Lord to make a way, oh yeah;
I hope that He hears their prayers, because deep in their souls they believe,
Someday He'll put an end to all this misery that we have in, Soulsville
All yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hm
At least that's the way it's supposed to be;
The chains that bind him are hard to see,
Unless you take this walk with me;
The place where he lives, God, he gives them names
The 'Hood, 'The Projects, 'The Ghetto; they are one and the same;
And I call it 'Soulsville' ah, yeah.
Any kind of job is hard to find,
That means an increase in the welfare line;
The crime rate is rising too, but
If you are hungry, what would you do?
The rent is two months past due, in a building that's falling apart,
Little boy needs a new pair of shoes, and this is only a part of Soulsville
Some of the brothers' got plenty of cash, tricks on the corner is going to see to that,
Some like to smoke and some like to blow, some are even strung out on a $50 Jones
Trying to ditch reality, by getting so, high,
Only to find out, that you can never reach the sky,
Because your roots are in Soulsville, oh, yes they are.
Every Sunday morning, I can hear the church sisters sing 'Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Trusting the Lord to make a way, oh yeah;
I hope that He hears their prayers, because deep in their souls they believe,
Someday He'll put an end to all this misery that we have in, Soulsville
All yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hm
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