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.
The booze in my blood runs fast and loud
And my brain shouts down to my mouth say whatever I think
Say it at him
And as the dam bursts open and you're drowned out boy
Better go outside, sit in your boat and wait
'til you get washed away
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids
Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded
Duck under that desk, cover your neck
Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And as the body succumbs, and my mouth goes numb
I limp out to the sound of, the breaking of broken toes
A vandal spoke
In the stark and the sobering dry sunlight
I will blink my eyes and hope the blink can erase
All the shit that I said and did
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids
Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded
Duck under that desk, cover your neck
Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And if I shoot at you, you should shoot at me too
And we can drown in pools of the thick dark words we threw
And as my face turns white
I apologise, I am sorry, it's not your fault
It's mine
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids
Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded
Duck under that desk, cover your neck
Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And my brain shouts down to my mouth say whatever I think
Say it at him
And as the dam bursts open and you're drowned out boy
Better go outside, sit in your boat and wait
'til you get washed away
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids
Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded
Duck under that desk, cover your neck
Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And as the body succumbs, and my mouth goes numb
I limp out to the sound of, the breaking of broken toes
A vandal spoke
In the stark and the sobering dry sunlight
I will blink my eyes and hope the blink can erase
All the shit that I said and did
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids
Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded
Duck under that desk, cover your neck
Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And if I shoot at you, you should shoot at me too
And we can drown in pools of the thick dark words we threw
And as my face turns white
I apologise, I am sorry, it's not your fault
It's mine
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids
Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded
Duck under that desk, cover your neck
Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
Lyrics submitted by waitingtowashaway, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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Think you have quite a few mistakes in the lyrics there.
Well the booze in my blood runs fast and loud And my brain shouts down to my mouth say whatever I think Say it at him
And when the dam bursts open and your drowned out boy Better go outside, sit in your boat and wait Till you get washed away
Hold your thoughts, time your rallies Pluck up your ears we're doing it verbal but I am loaded Duck under that desk, cover your neck Picking your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And as the voice succumbs as my mouth goes numb I limp out to the sound of breaking of broken toes A vandal spoke And in the stark and the sobering dry sunlight I will blink my eyes and hope the blink can erase All the shit that I said and did
Hold your thoughts, time your rallies Pluck up your ears we're doing it verbal but I am loaded Duck under that desk, cover your neck Picking your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And if I shoot at you, you should shoot at me too We can drown in the ghost of the thick dark words we throw And if my face turns white I apologise, I am sorry, it's not your fault It's mine
Hold your thoughts, time your rallies Pluck up your ears we're doing it verbal but I am loaded Duck under that desk, cover your neck Picking your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
Yeah, I was way out! Thanks for the corrections
Pretty sure the line is "hold onto your thumbs, time your eyelids". I have a recording of Scott singing this solo in Glasgow and it's quite clear that he says "thumbs" and "eyelids". Not sure what the meaning might be...
I hear it as "hold your thumbs, TIGHTEN your eyelids"<br /> <br /> and that seems to make a lot of sense here i think.
I'd agree with that. The line is definitely "hold onto your thumbs", and "tighten your eyelids" I think is right aswell.
Lyrics as written on the album :
The booze in my blood runs fast and loud And my brain shouts down to my mouth say whatever I think Say it at him
And as the dam bursts open and you're drowned out boy Better go outside, sit in your boat and wait 'til you get washed away
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded Duck under that desk, cover your neck Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And as the body succumbs, and my mouth goes numb I limp out to the sound of, the breaking of broken toes A vandal spoke In the stark and the sobering dry sunlight I will blink my eyes and hope the blink can erase All the shit that I said and did
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded Duck under that desk, cover your neck Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
And if I shoot at you, you should shoot at me too And we can drown in pools of the thick dark words we threw And as my face turns white I apologise, I am sorry, it's not your fault It's mine
Hold on to your thumbs, tighten your eyelids Lock up your ears, my dear, I'm verbal when I am loaded Duck under that desk, cover your neck Thicken your skin as I begin to shoot myself in the foot again
I hear "It wasn't your fault..." at the beginning of the chorus instead of "Hold your thoughts..."
It seems to make sense in the context of the song given that he says "I apologize, I'm sorry, it's not your fault" during the bridge.
favourite song from the new album. I love the way he sings the words loaded and again in the chorus.
it's about how he gets drunk and says things he doesn't mean to someone, probably a girl, but really could be anyone. so this song is written like when he's sober as a warning to the person not to take it personally, not to believe anything the singer says when they are drunk, to "thicken your skin" as he starts to "shoot myself in the foot again" by saying/doing these things. it might be that he gets drunk while out with his lady friend and starts shit with another guy (hence the line "say whatever i think, say it at him!") and eventually this turns into saying things he doesn't mean to her. i dunno. great song though.
This is my absolute favorite song on the album! It is brilliant! The way he uses the figure of speech "to shoot oneself in the foot", to go against one's own interests/ to be self-destructive, in this case by saying things he shouldn't while he is drunk, and then using words to paint a picture of actually having shot himself in the foot. I'm not sure if I worded that right to express what I mean but I just think it's phenomenal!
Like, using the word loaded- loaded in the sense that he is drunk and loaded like a gun.
And, "And as the body succumbs, and my mouth goes numb,I limp out to the sound of, the breaking of broken toes". Limping cause he just shot himself in the foot...
Also, "And if I shoot at you, you should shoot at me too, And we can drown in pools of the thick dark words we threw, And as my face turns white, I apologise, I am sorry, it's not your fault,It's mine"- pools of words he just spewed out and pools of blood from the wound to the foot/ face turns white from the regret of what he just said and the loss of blood.
And then still also managing to tie it in to the nautical theme throughout the whole album: "And as the dam bursts open and you're drowned out boy Better go outside, sit in your boat and wait 'til you get washed away"
I love it. I think he is an amazing lyricist.
man...thanks stranger, for explaining this I think...And, "And as the body succumbs, and my mouth goes numb,I limp out to the sound of, the breaking of broken toes". Limping cause he just shot himself in the foot...
Thanks for appreciating my interpretation :)
Thanks craig ;) Brilliant song! Personally one of my favourites on the new album. It could easily be anthem of the occasional or instinctual "nightime beasts" who knows how to rock 'n roll in the evenings. You often have this strange feeling when you wake up, realizing things that happened the other night. Like they never really happened to you and you aren't the person responsible for them. But you have to face the consequences anyway.
This song singlehandedly kept me alive at one point. Not for any particular reason except it was really catchy and clever and was stuck in my head constantly in the lowest point of my life when I was hospitalized. And I was like oh ok, I'll keep living to hear this song in my head I guess, that's kind of satisfying. I am not joking lol. Thanks Scott