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.
And I'm hardly on my feet
And my heart it barely beats
Afternoons, they aren't so bad
At least not as bad as some ones I've had.
Hard without you being here,
Hard without you near.
And all the rumors that I heard,
only understood certain words.
And I'm hardly on my feet
And my heart it barely beats.
Afternoon don't look so bad
At least not as bad as some ones I've had.
Hard without you being here,
Hard without you near.
And all the rumors that I've heard,
never understood every word.
And I'm hardly on my feet
And my heart it barely beats
And afternoon don't look so bad
at least not as bad as some one,
someone's had.
Hard without you being here
Much easier with you near
And my heart it barely beats
Afternoons, they aren't so bad
At least not as bad as some ones I've had.
Hard without you being here,
Hard without you near.
And all the rumors that I heard,
only understood certain words.
And I'm hardly on my feet
And my heart it barely beats.
Afternoon don't look so bad
At least not as bad as some ones I've had.
Hard without you being here,
Hard without you near.
And all the rumors that I've heard,
never understood every word.
And I'm hardly on my feet
And my heart it barely beats
And afternoon don't look so bad
at least not as bad as some one,
someone's had.
Hard without you being here
Much easier with you near
Lyrics submitted by carpe_diem, edited by Ryuhza
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
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This song goes through 3 repetitions and changes slightly each time - the lyrics above don't quite do that justice. For instance, "Only understood certain words" changes to "Never understood every word" and finally "I understood every word".
"Hard without you being here Hard without you near"
Very applicable to me currently. I'm desperately in love with someone who isn't near me. It's not long distance, but she isn't here. Despite being able to make me happy with a single glance, it's so hard to feel happy without her here. The absence of her is all I can think about, and what it means, and whether it'll ever change. I have an overactive imagination, one that takes words that are potentially meaningless and twists them in any way it can, against me.
"And all the rumours that I've heard
I understood every word"
To me, this is what that line's about; taking mumbled words, unclear messages, rumours, and turning them into final, concrete facts.
"Hard without you being here Much easier with you near"
I believe these are the full lyrics
And I'm hardly on my feet And my heart it barely beats Afternoons, they aren't so bad At least not as bad as some ones I've had.
Hard without you being here, Hard without you near. And all the rumors that I heard, only understood certain words.
And I'm hardly on my feet And my heart it barely beats. Afternoon don't look so bad At least not as bad as some ones I've had.
Hard without you being here, Hard without you near. And all the rumors that I've heard, never understood every word.
And I'm hardly on my feet And my heart it barely beats And afternoon don't look so bad at least not as bad as some one, someone's had.
Hard without you being here Much easier with you near
First of all, great song.
It sounds like being depressed (And I'm hardly on my feet; and my heart, it barely beats) about someone being away (Hard w/o you being here, Hard w/o you you near).
And trying to be some what optimistic (At least not as bad as some I've had).
(And all the rumors that I've heard, I understood every word) Not sure, maybe cheating or staying away longer.
seanbw81, thank you so much for posting the full song! I've been meaning to do it for the longest time, but I'm lazy. Love this song; it does kind of speak for itself . . . the speaker keeps dwelling on rumors and bits of information and half-stories, trying to remain positive and encourage himself through his own words. Mimicking Birds - - so so good!
First Mimicking Birds song I ever heard (Thank you Isaac Brock house tour video :D), and used to be my favorite. But now I can't help noticing just how nonexistent his "H" pronunciation is.
That and I just recently broke in The Loop and New Doomsdays