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.
I am the shadow, and the smoke in your eyes,
I am the ghost, that hides in the night
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Wait, wait a minute take a step back
you gotta think twice before you react
so stay, stay a little while
Because a Promise not kept is the road to exile
HEY! whats the circumstance
you'll never be great without taking a chance so
wait, you waited too long
had your hands in your pocket
when you shoulda been gone
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
One push is all you'll need
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
A fist first philosophy
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
We watch with wounded eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
So I hope you recognize
I'm on the front line
Don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
Damn! damn it all down
took one to the chest without even a sound so
What! What are you worth?
the things you love or the people you hurt
Hey! it's like deja vu
a suicidal maniac with nothing to lose
so wait, it's the exception to the rule
everyone of us is expendable
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
One push is all you'll need
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
A fist first philosophy
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
We watch with wounded eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
So I hope you recognize
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I know that I'm alive
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
Every night of my life
I watch angels fall from the sky
Every time that the sun still sets
I pray they don't take mine
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to regret
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regrets
and now I know that I'm alive
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
I am the ghost, that hides in the night
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Wait, wait a minute take a step back
you gotta think twice before you react
so stay, stay a little while
Because a Promise not kept is the road to exile
HEY! whats the circumstance
you'll never be great without taking a chance so
wait, you waited too long
had your hands in your pocket
when you shoulda been gone
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
One push is all you'll need
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
A fist first philosophy
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
We watch with wounded eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
So I hope you recognize
I'm on the front line
Don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
Damn! damn it all down
took one to the chest without even a sound so
What! What are you worth?
the things you love or the people you hurt
Hey! it's like deja vu
a suicidal maniac with nothing to lose
so wait, it's the exception to the rule
everyone of us is expendable
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
One push is all you'll need
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
A fist first philosophy
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
We watch with wounded eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
So I hope you recognize
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I know that I'm alive
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
Every night of my life
I watch angels fall from the sky
Every time that the sun still sets
I pray they don't take mine
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to regret
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regrets
and now I know that I'm alive
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Lyrics submitted by lovekillsslowlyx3
Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom) [Bonus Track] Lyrics as written by Zachary Myers Eric Bass
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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”
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.
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.
I don't think the song is stricly about being a soldier (though it works since it fits with the movie). I think it's basically a metaphor for going out an taking a risk instead of holding back and regretting it.
By "Diamond Eyes", I'm thinking that he's saying he's able to see more clearly (really good diamonds are known for being clear with no color, etc).
I would agree that the song isn't strictly about soldiers, and also about the clear eyed view of diamonds. I think there is another meaning diamonds in this context though. Diamonds are the hardest substance on earth. The artists are trying to indicate something about the nature of the person being sung about. They are talking about a cynical world view, a realism. The standard form of the phrase would be "hard eyed" or "Steely-eyed".
This song is clearly about a soldier who is going into combat for the first time. But, in order to survive on the battlefield, he has to let go of all the pains, regrets, and weaknesses that filled civilian life. And through letting go, he discovers freedom in his life. In other words, it's only through the battlefield, and through making life-and-death that he is able to feel truely alive. With all of that said, this is really an appropriate theme song for "The Expendables"!
The lyrics that really stand our are:
Out on the front line, don't worry I'll be fine The story is just beginning I say goodbye to my weakness, So long to the regrets And now I know that I'm alive
Amazing song. Different sound than what were used to. Almost the same tone as their other movie hit "her name is alice." Maybe we'll hear more of this in their future album. We can only wait.
"So, what, what do you want<br /> The things you love or the people you hurt"<br /> <br /> Should be <br /> "So, what, what are you worth<br /> The things that you love or the people you hurt"
"(Boom-lay boom-lay boom) One push is all you need (Boom-lay boom-lay boom) A fist-first philosophy. (Boom-lay boom-lay boom) We watch with wounded eyes. (Boom-lay boom-lay boom) So I hope you recognize."
I love this song, thanks for posting the lyrics! However, I do believe it is, "a fist-first philosophy, due to the nature of the theme being around the movie 'The Expendables', and their first-first nature in the film.
The flipside of Trade Yourself In????
I like the Zach/Eric dynamic the group has shown :D
This: Damn, damn it all down Took one to the chest without even a sound So, what, what do you want The things you love or the people you hurt Hey, it's like deja vu suicidal maybe I got nothing to lose So wait, it's the exception to the rule Everyone of us is expendable
Should be:
DAMN! damn it all down took one to the chest without even a sound so WHAT! what are you worth the things you love or the people you hurt HEY! it's like deja vu a suicidal maniac with nothing to lose so wait, it's the exception to the rule everyone of us is EXPENDABLE
and i think the song is trying to say that everyone only plays a small role compared to the larger overall problems of the world and therefore when we fail to fix it, our ideas and almost all of that person become abandoned for failing to solve the issue at hand.
UH ITS CORRECT YA MORON?! GOD?! THERE WAS NO "THIS:"
Luv this song! Although it's different it's AWESOME. I think he is talking about how he is wanting to start a new life because he has been acting like he is weak and regretting most of the things he has done. He has said goodbye to his mistakes and has opened his eyes to the world. ♥
Great song! It just gets me pumped. I think of someone getting ready for a fight when I listen to it.
I think also that it's about soldiers on the front line. On the verge of life and death, and that he needs to let go of regrets and weaknesses to stay sharp en survive.
Every night of my life I watch angels fall from the sky Every time that the sun still sets I pray they don't take mine
I think this is about his buddies who are dying.
I really love this song, it really hyped me up for the movie. I really hope Shinedown has more stuff like this in their next album.