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.
Go ahead
Go ahead and smash it on the floor
Take whatever's left and take it with you out the door
See if I cry
See if I shed a single sorry tear
I can't say that it's been that great
No
In fact it's been a wasted year
Everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong
And it's been that way too long
Take it as it comes and be thankful when it's done
There's so many ways to act and there's many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
Yeah
Yeah
Let it out
Lett it all out
Say what's on your mind
You can kick and scream
And shout and say things that are so unkind
Yeah
See if I care
And see if I stand firm or if I fall
'Cause in the back of my mind
And on the tip of my tongue is the answer to it all
Everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong
And it's been that way too long
Take it as it comes and be thankful when it's done
There's so many ways to act and there's many shades of black
There's many shades of black
Yeah
There's many shades of black
Oh
Oh
Yeah
Everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong
And it's been that way too long
Baby take it as it comes and be thankful when it's done
There's so many ways to act and you cannot take it back
(Many shades of black)
No
You cannot take it back
'Cause there's many shades of black
(Many shades of black)
You have many shades of black
You have many
(Many shades of black)
You have many
You have many shades of black
'Cause there's many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
(Many shades of black)
There's so many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
Yeah
Oh
Oh
Oh
Go ahead and smash it on the floor
Take whatever's left and take it with you out the door
See if I cry
See if I shed a single sorry tear
I can't say that it's been that great
No
In fact it's been a wasted year
Everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong
And it's been that way too long
Take it as it comes and be thankful when it's done
There's so many ways to act and there's many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
Yeah
Yeah
Let it out
Lett it all out
Say what's on your mind
You can kick and scream
And shout and say things that are so unkind
Yeah
See if I care
And see if I stand firm or if I fall
'Cause in the back of my mind
And on the tip of my tongue is the answer to it all
Everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong
And it's been that way too long
Take it as it comes and be thankful when it's done
There's so many ways to act and there's many shades of black
There's many shades of black
Yeah
There's many shades of black
Oh
Oh
Yeah
Everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong
And it's been that way too long
Baby take it as it comes and be thankful when it's done
There's so many ways to act and you cannot take it back
(Many shades of black)
No
You cannot take it back
'Cause there's many shades of black
(Many shades of black)
You have many shades of black
You have many
(Many shades of black)
You have many
You have many shades of black
'Cause there's many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
(Many shades of black)
There's so many shades of black
There's so many shades of black
Yeah
Oh
Oh
Oh
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I think many shades of black means there are alot of ways to cover things up. When she says everybody sees and everyone agrees that you and I are wrong and its been that way to long I think she means that everyone else could see that the relationship was unhealthy and not good except for the people involved until a year later and its falling apart.