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.
All the remains
Of a cadaver of days
I keep hidden away
Keep them there just in case
I wanna visit that place
Blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years
That I leave all alone
Just a body of years
See the skin disappears
And the blood turns to stone
In a body of years
Now a pile of bones
Like a sheet of veneer
Each a piece of my soul
It's a body of years
That I leave all alone
It's just a body of years
Now a pile of bones
You know
Old soul who falls down
Can't stop trippin' on these
Old roads I go down
Get back up and
Get my foot in the door
And my face on the page
Make my mark in the world
With a bat and a blade
It's a body of work
That you can't ever change
Like a body of years
That you take to your grave
It's just a body of years
That I leave all alone
It's just a body of years
Now a pile of bones
Like a sheet of veneer
Each a piece of my soul
Old soul who falls down
Can't stop tripping on these
Old roads I go down
Get back up and I'm a (body of years)
Old soul who falls down (body of years, body of years)
Can't stop tripping on these (body of years, body of years)
Old roads (body of years, body of years)
Body of years
It's just a body of years
That I leave all alone
It's just a body of years
Now a pile of bones
Like a sheet of veneer
Each a piece of my soul
Like a pile of shit
I can't seem to forget
Just a body of years
That I leave all alone
Telltale diary pages
They unveil a ghost from the ages
When bodies of years
Were breaking from all of the weight
Of diary pages
Telltale diary pages
Oh, oh
Of a cadaver of days
I keep hidden away
Keep them there just in case
I wanna visit that place
Blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years
That I leave all alone
Just a body of years
See the skin disappears
And the blood turns to stone
In a body of years
Now a pile of bones
Like a sheet of veneer
Each a piece of my soul
It's a body of years
That I leave all alone
It's just a body of years
Now a pile of bones
You know
Old soul who falls down
Can't stop trippin' on these
Old roads I go down
Get back up and
Get my foot in the door
And my face on the page
Make my mark in the world
With a bat and a blade
It's a body of work
That you can't ever change
Like a body of years
That you take to your grave
It's just a body of years
That I leave all alone
It's just a body of years
Now a pile of bones
Like a sheet of veneer
Each a piece of my soul
Old soul who falls down
Can't stop tripping on these
Old roads I go down
Get back up and I'm a (body of years)
Old soul who falls down (body of years, body of years)
Can't stop tripping on these (body of years, body of years)
Old roads (body of years, body of years)
Body of years
It's just a body of years
That I leave all alone
It's just a body of years
Now a pile of bones
Like a sheet of veneer
Each a piece of my soul
Like a pile of shit
I can't seem to forget
Just a body of years
That I leave all alone
Telltale diary pages
They unveil a ghost from the ages
When bodies of years
Were breaking from all of the weight
Of diary pages
Telltale diary pages
Oh, oh
Lyrics submitted by asc08, edited by exorsizzle
Body of Years Lyrics as written by Ryan Guldemond
Lyrics © Anthem Entertainment
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song seems to me as though it's someone looking back in their past at relationships with people they knew, and no longer associate, or have lost touch with, it's all very much a part of who this person is, but they are no longer around.