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.
You gotta be honest
You gotta be guarded
You sure aren't gonna say
Right on the inside
That is the hardest
The hardest game to play
You sorted it all out
And managed to slip through
The night into the day
Life and a soul
Do you ever get lonely?
I'm gonna take you on
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
Gotta be honest
You gotta be guarded
You sure aren't gonna say
Right on the inside
That is the hardest
The hardest game to play
Life and a soul
Do you ever get lonely?
I'm gonna take you on
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
I'm gonna take you on
Gotta be honest
You gotta be guarded
You sure aren't gonna say
Right on the inside
That is the hardest
The hardest game to play
You gotta be guarded
You sure aren't gonna say
Right on the inside
That is the hardest
The hardest game to play
You sorted it all out
And managed to slip through
The night into the day
Life and a soul
Do you ever get lonely?
I'm gonna take you on
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
Gotta be honest
You gotta be guarded
You sure aren't gonna say
Right on the inside
That is the hardest
The hardest game to play
Life and a soul
Do you ever get lonely?
I'm gonna take you on
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
Found a way to understand the things I'm learning
Found a way to understand the time you're burning
I'm gonna take you on
Gotta be honest
You gotta be guarded
You sure aren't gonna say
Right on the inside
That is the hardest
The hardest game to play
Lyrics submitted by random_monkey
Honest Lyrics as written by Matt Hayward Emma Richardson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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this freaking song it's one of the most amazing songs right now!!! you know I don't understand in allout the lyrics but you know it's an amazing song!!
I think I do understand, but you have to know the situation to understand this song..
"Life and the soul do you ever get lonely -i'm gonna take you on."
^<3
this is a great track.
I feel like this song is being sung from the perspective of someone who has gone through a lot of hard times but has learned a lot and made a sort of peace with life in all it's good and bad forms. They are singing to someone who they recognize as being a lot like them before they were able to learn their lessons and grow from them, so the singer is helping this vulnerable person by sharing what they learned in a similar situation.
"You gotta be honest, You gotta be guarded, You sure aren't gonna say" The singer is saying, "I've been there; you want to be honest in everything you do so badly, but you're still vulnerable and feel like you need to be guarded."
"Right on the inside, That is the hardest, The hardest game to play
You sorted it all out And managed to slip through The night into the day" Again the singer is expressing hoe s/he relates to the person being sung to/about. "It's a hard game to play be unsure of everything and to feel like you're just slipping by in life."
"Life and a soul Do you ever get lonely? I'm gonna take you on" This is the singer having a "deep" conversation with the person about life and how being lonely sucks, but they want to help them with their friendship if they can.
"(I) Found a way to understand the things I'm learning (I) Found a way to understand the time you're burning" The singer says s/he understands, but they found a way out through understanding, and believe the person being sung to/about can as well.
And the more I think about it, this song could also be about having a loved on with an addiction or other destructive habit, and learning that you can't control other people's lives, even when you think it's best for them, hence "Found a way to understand the things I'm learning/Found a way to understand the time you're burning"
I get the feeling that it's about overcoming an addiction or a bad habit. Like most people who have gone through withdrawals know, you spend a lot of time wondering how you're going to make it through to the next day. Also, something I personally do is repeat the same phrases over and over again to myself.....Like, "If you can make it another minute, you can do another hour." And being honest with yourself is the most important part, because if you tell yourself that you don't have a problem that needs to be fixed, you won't fix it. I get the sense that a lot of their song lyrics are about addiction.
Seems like in any relationship (not necessarily romantic) "you gotta be honest" if you want the other person to know how you're feeling, but "you gotta be guarded" if you don't want to get screwed over, taken advantage of, or get hurt.... Is this a lack of trust, or a fear of being betrayed...
I personally think this song is about feelings of guilt, denial and turmoil for caring about someone who society thinks you should not care about based off all the unwritten rules of love.