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.
It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
And this time I'm not leavin' without you
You taste like Whiskey when you kiss me, oh
I'd give anything again to be your baby doll
This time I'm not leavin' without you
He said, "Sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we made love the first time"
And you said to me there's
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about this place
(Somethin') Somethin' about lonely nights
And my lipstick on your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah, somethin' about baby you and I
It's been two years since I let you go
I couldn't listen to a joke or rock and roll
Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart
On my birthday you sang me A Heart of Gold
With a guitar humming and no clothes
This time I'm not leavin' without you, oh (oh)
Sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we made love the first time
And you said to me there's
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about this place
(Somethin') Somethin' about lonely nights
And my lipstick on your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah, somethin' about baby you and I
You and I
You you and I
You you and I
You you and I-I
You and I
You you and I
Oh yeah, I'd rather die
Without you and I
Come on, put your drinks up
We got a whole lot of money, but we still pay rent
'Cause you can't buy a house in Heaven
There's only three men that I'ma serve my whole life
It's my daddy and Nebraska and Jesus Christ, there's
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about the chase (six whole years)
(Somethin') I'm a New York woman born to run you down
Still want my lipstick all over your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about just knowin' when it's right
So put your dreams up for Nebraska
For Nebraska, Nebraska, I love you
You and I
You you and I
Baby I'd rather die
Without you and I-I-I
You and I
You you and I
Nebraska
I'd rather die
Without you and I-I-I
It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
And this time I'm not leavin' without you
Been a long time but I'm back in town
And this time I'm not leavin' without you
You taste like Whiskey when you kiss me, oh
I'd give anything again to be your baby doll
This time I'm not leavin' without you
He said, "Sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we made love the first time"
And you said to me there's
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about this place
(Somethin') Somethin' about lonely nights
And my lipstick on your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah, somethin' about baby you and I
It's been two years since I let you go
I couldn't listen to a joke or rock and roll
Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart
On my birthday you sang me A Heart of Gold
With a guitar humming and no clothes
This time I'm not leavin' without you, oh (oh)
Sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we made love the first time
And you said to me there's
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about this place
(Somethin') Somethin' about lonely nights
And my lipstick on your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah, somethin' about baby you and I
You and I
You you and I
You you and I
You you and I-I
You and I
You you and I
Oh yeah, I'd rather die
Without you and I
Come on, put your drinks up
We got a whole lot of money, but we still pay rent
'Cause you can't buy a house in Heaven
There's only three men that I'ma serve my whole life
It's my daddy and Nebraska and Jesus Christ, there's
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about the chase (six whole years)
(Somethin') I'm a New York woman born to run you down
Still want my lipstick all over your face
(Somethin') Somethin', somethin' about just knowin' when it's right
So put your dreams up for Nebraska
For Nebraska, Nebraska, I love you
You and I
You you and I
Baby I'd rather die
Without you and I-I-I
You and I
You you and I
Nebraska
I'd rather die
Without you and I-I-I
It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
And this time I'm not leavin' without you
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
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"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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I can't get this song out of my head. I love how this song has an old school rock feel to it. Its (as far as Gaga goes) pretty stripped-down and honest.