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'm at the White Castle
(I don't see you here, dog)
Tiny-ass hamburgers, tiny-ass cheeseburgers
Tiny-ass chicken sandwiches
It's outlandish, kid
Ma trying to speak to the kid
In Spanish, kid
Like "?Que tu quieres?"
I'm like "where is the bathroom?
I hella gotta piss, where's the bathroom?"
Ask whom the bell tolls for
Hey, yo, where you get this place from, the hellhole store?
I'm in the building
Building will Belding
Ask for whom the bell rings (DR)
Something like a neo-rap Zach attack
Finna spark an L and have myself a Big Mac attack
Known to rock the flyest shit and eat the best pizza
Charge that shit to Mastercard, already owe Visa
Catch me drinkin' lean in Italy like I was Pisa
We could eat the flyest cave-aged cheese for sheez, ma
Yeah, we could eat Gruyere
As if we care
We could eat Roquefort
Or we could just kick it like Rockports
In the periphery of Little Sicily little did she know I'm tickling boo she so giggly
Catch me solving mysteries like Wikipedia Brown
It's the future get down
We make a sound even if nobody's around
Like a tree or the tears of a clown
Yo, I'm afraid of clowns, I'm afraid of small towns
Positive energy is something like I'm afraid of all frowns
Catch me at the crib getting light to Jeff Mangum
It's fun to do bad things like rhyme about handguns
If any problem pop off
I'll Joe Pesci any fool while drinking that Popov
That's cause I'm a Goodfella
Stay up out the hood hella much now
But punch clowns if they touch down
While I'm eating lunch now
While I'm eating a burger
Metaphysical spiritual lyrical murder
The ill '96 manifestible third eye
Abstract vegan backpack skateboard et cetera
Rap hella much in a busted ass Jetta with Coretta Scott King
Rap bridge
On a duet with T-Pain and Stephen Hawking
I'm not joking, stop jocking, stop talking
Shut up, hush up
Please, shut the fuck up
Shut up, dude, shut up
Das Racist is the new Kool G Rap
Peep us at the Grammys
We'd like to thank G-chat
We'd like to thank weed rap
The best rapper's B Real
Jokes, it's us, come on, be real
Second Latin rapper to like the Beatles
But on the real they swear I'm blacker than Cheadle
Like Don King playing Donkey Kong Country at his cousin's house
You don't even know what it's about
This is panic attack rap
Eating four flapjacks
Trap raps, let em free, they always come back to me
The Internet told me that that's called love
I'm on the Internet cause I'm an Internet thug
Himanshu, yes I'm in control man
Pos Vibe Emanator
Yes I got my soul tan
Soul shine, soul glow, so so Po-Mo
Catch me on the South Side
Kicking it with Shlomo
Kicking it with Gary Soto
All the cholos saying "Mira el joto"
Just because I rock the secondhand Versace
Wash me, watch me
The second hand couldn't even clock me
You couldn't see me like a Cuban playing hockey
Cracker in the chocolate, that's human Pocky
Papa look stocky, Mama look chalky
Me I look a little something like a young Shock G
Words come through me like I was a walkie talkie
All I do is open up my mouth and just rock, see
You, you are not me
Me I am possibly everything plus everything that is not me
Jokes, that is not T-R-U-E
Are you understanding everything, do you got me?
Catch me in the trees where it's shady like Lockheed Martin
Sparking in the shade of the trees in the park, B
Hark the angels stay singing in the dark
Like the rainbow in the Ronnie James Dio joint
Hit it from the back court
Like it was a three point
I don't give a fuck, I'm a duck to a decoy
No trustem white-face man like Geronimo
Tried to go to Amsterdam they threw us in Guantanamo
(I don't see you here, dog)
Tiny-ass hamburgers, tiny-ass cheeseburgers
Tiny-ass chicken sandwiches
It's outlandish, kid
Ma trying to speak to the kid
In Spanish, kid
Like "?Que tu quieres?"
I'm like "where is the bathroom?
I hella gotta piss, where's the bathroom?"
Ask whom the bell tolls for
Hey, yo, where you get this place from, the hellhole store?
I'm in the building
Building will Belding
Ask for whom the bell rings (DR)
Something like a neo-rap Zach attack
Finna spark an L and have myself a Big Mac attack
Known to rock the flyest shit and eat the best pizza
Charge that shit to Mastercard, already owe Visa
Catch me drinkin' lean in Italy like I was Pisa
We could eat the flyest cave-aged cheese for sheez, ma
Yeah, we could eat Gruyere
As if we care
We could eat Roquefort
Or we could just kick it like Rockports
In the periphery of Little Sicily little did she know I'm tickling boo she so giggly
Catch me solving mysteries like Wikipedia Brown
It's the future get down
We make a sound even if nobody's around
Like a tree or the tears of a clown
Yo, I'm afraid of clowns, I'm afraid of small towns
Positive energy is something like I'm afraid of all frowns
Catch me at the crib getting light to Jeff Mangum
It's fun to do bad things like rhyme about handguns
If any problem pop off
I'll Joe Pesci any fool while drinking that Popov
That's cause I'm a Goodfella
Stay up out the hood hella much now
But punch clowns if they touch down
While I'm eating lunch now
While I'm eating a burger
Metaphysical spiritual lyrical murder
The ill '96 manifestible third eye
Abstract vegan backpack skateboard et cetera
Rap hella much in a busted ass Jetta with Coretta Scott King
Rap bridge
On a duet with T-Pain and Stephen Hawking
I'm not joking, stop jocking, stop talking
Shut up, hush up
Please, shut the fuck up
Shut up, dude, shut up
Das Racist is the new Kool G Rap
Peep us at the Grammys
We'd like to thank G-chat
We'd like to thank weed rap
The best rapper's B Real
Jokes, it's us, come on, be real
Second Latin rapper to like the Beatles
But on the real they swear I'm blacker than Cheadle
Like Don King playing Donkey Kong Country at his cousin's house
You don't even know what it's about
This is panic attack rap
Eating four flapjacks
Trap raps, let em free, they always come back to me
The Internet told me that that's called love
I'm on the Internet cause I'm an Internet thug
Himanshu, yes I'm in control man
Pos Vibe Emanator
Yes I got my soul tan
Soul shine, soul glow, so so Po-Mo
Catch me on the South Side
Kicking it with Shlomo
Kicking it with Gary Soto
All the cholos saying "Mira el joto"
Just because I rock the secondhand Versace
Wash me, watch me
The second hand couldn't even clock me
You couldn't see me like a Cuban playing hockey
Cracker in the chocolate, that's human Pocky
Papa look stocky, Mama look chalky
Me I look a little something like a young Shock G
Words come through me like I was a walkie talkie
All I do is open up my mouth and just rock, see
You, you are not me
Me I am possibly everything plus everything that is not me
Jokes, that is not T-R-U-E
Are you understanding everything, do you got me?
Catch me in the trees where it's shady like Lockheed Martin
Sparking in the shade of the trees in the park, B
Hark the angels stay singing in the dark
Like the rainbow in the Ronnie James Dio joint
Hit it from the back court
Like it was a three point
I don't give a fuck, I'm a duck to a decoy
No trustem white-face man like Geronimo
Tried to go to Amsterdam they threw us in Guantanamo
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"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."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
I'm pretty sure Kool A.D. says,
"I'm not trying to speak to the kid in Spanish, kid."
Not,
"Ma trying to speak to the kid in Spanish, kid."
"Ma" is sland for "girl", and Kool A.D. sometimes calls himself the kid. The cashier sees him and assumes he'd prefer being spoken to in Spanish. Das racist.