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.
Half alive we fall through worlds we go
To colorful altars in the grip of war and woe
And the desperate charge to make the damage look undone
Here's another war across the ocean
Casualties of war
You better learn
Casualties of war
Whose souls are reaching
Casualties of war
You'll find better way
Casualties of war
That's all
Through days of hunger and nights that we forget
I think that we could heal together
Strength to strength
And from the scars of everything we've left behind
To find a new life
Set our souls alight
Casualties of war
You better learn
Casualties of war
Whose souls are reaching
Casualties of war you'll find a better way
Casualties of war
That's all
In rebel learn
Casualties of war
Whose souls are reaching
Politics in war
We'll find better way
We're casualties of war
That's alright from the scars of
Everything we left behind
To find a new life
Set our souls alight
Through days of hunger
Nights that we forget that
We could heal together
Strength to strength
To colorful altars in the grip of war and woe
And the desperate charge to make the damage look undone
Here's another war across the ocean
Casualties of war
You better learn
Casualties of war
Whose souls are reaching
Casualties of war
You'll find better way
Casualties of war
That's all
Through days of hunger and nights that we forget
I think that we could heal together
Strength to strength
And from the scars of everything we've left behind
To find a new life
Set our souls alight
Casualties of war
You better learn
Casualties of war
Whose souls are reaching
Casualties of war you'll find a better way
Casualties of war
That's all
In rebel learn
Casualties of war
Whose souls are reaching
Politics in war
We'll find better way
We're casualties of war
That's alright from the scars of
Everything we left behind
To find a new life
Set our souls alight
Through days of hunger
Nights that we forget that
We could heal together
Strength to strength
Lyrics submitted by StrikeAgainstRiseAnywhere
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
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.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
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"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Quoting Thomas Barnett:
It's the peace-punk song I've always wanted to write. It's the perfect mix of Discharge and Billy Bragg. It has to do with what war does to all of us: the war economy, our recession, the moral erosion of the idea of a just war. My bandmate Mark [Miller] has a good friend who came back from Iraq, but mentally he's hurting, fractured – and [the song is] for all of the people that we see around the world that are involved in the military, who come to our shows, that want out, that want a reason to hope for something else. It's for all our friends and the people I've worked with in the counter-recruiting movement, trying to get people to know their rights. ... Recognize that soldiers are human beings and have been manipulated into this terrible place, and a lot of horrible things have happened, but we can heal together. That's what the ending's about: Trying to get out of this place where we've all been compromised, and our civilization has been, by this addiction to war.