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.
Hey I found a whistle that hangs like a charm
And when my noose is tied I could blow it
And fall down into your arms
15 centuries of dissolution and grief
To return a yellow trickster and a thief
Hey I found a whistle that works every time
That's when the trail escapes to nowhere
And the flood erases the crime
Such conviction
To paint all the walls with the blood
Of the young and the faithful and the good
Yeah I found a whistle as thin as a sheet
To split the dumbness of a vision
Between asleep and a sleep
Tiny axes
Repeatedly raising the flag
All ignored, real emotion's such a drag
Hey I've got a pistol that's aimed at your heart
And on dark nights when the moon is right
I could show you
The head attached with a scarf
Aerophane sorceress, at home obeying the fates
When it's gone, has it gone all the way?
This time
Found a whistle
That works every time
Yeah, I found a whistle
That works
Hangs like a charm
Yeah, found a whistle
That works every time
Yeah, I found a whistle
That works
Closes my mind every time
A whistle
I've got it,
I've got it,
This time
And when my noose is tied I could blow it
And fall down into your arms
15 centuries of dissolution and grief
To return a yellow trickster and a thief
Hey I found a whistle that works every time
That's when the trail escapes to nowhere
And the flood erases the crime
Such conviction
To paint all the walls with the blood
Of the young and the faithful and the good
Yeah I found a whistle as thin as a sheet
To split the dumbness of a vision
Between asleep and a sleep
Tiny axes
Repeatedly raising the flag
All ignored, real emotion's such a drag
Hey I've got a pistol that's aimed at your heart
And on dark nights when the moon is right
I could show you
The head attached with a scarf
Aerophane sorceress, at home obeying the fates
When it's gone, has it gone all the way?
This time
Found a whistle
That works every time
Yeah, I found a whistle
That works
Hangs like a charm
Yeah, found a whistle
That works every time
Yeah, I found a whistle
That works
Closes my mind every time
A whistle
I've got it,
I've got it,
This time
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.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
i'm just gonna throw this out here, at the risk of getting a million thumbs down from all the "MGMT is not all about drugs" kids, but i think every last one of their songs are about drugs... and something else. it's such a recurring theme with them, but then their songs always have some other theme in them that fits just as well. but the drug related imagery is SO specifically referenced and so intense that it can't really be chance. it just seems to me as though drugs have had such an influence in their everyday lives and can be related to just about everything these days, that they are using it in relation to everything just to subliminally imply that drugs are all around us and are a huge part of the world if you let them in. rereading this i realized it makes more sense in my head, but oh well.