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.
No no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Remember how I said I'd come someday baby,
How I said I'd come around to see you one day,
I said I'd try to find a way to run away I'd get away some day and I'm gonna come someday baby,
Gonna fire on the water, hear you say,
I'm gonna fire on the water, trying to find you again and say:
I never thought I'd see you,again I never thought I'd get to be with my best friend, never thought I had to tell you again, never thought I had to tell you how I lost my mind again.
I left alone, I left the world I was running,
To be by your side I was dying, alone by your side I was flying.
I came alone, I've come a long way to get here, the leaves they fall to my feet,at home, they mean nothing to me.
No no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Remember everywhere, everything is in this place, take a place if you found a place to take,
Take away the way you want to walk away,
Make a way with my mind my mind's away,
Wake me up when I'm on the throw to paradise,
Lift me off the ground and take me to the garden of paradise.
Remember everywhere, everything is in this place,
Take a place if you found a place to take,
And if you don't have anything nice to say,
You can tell it while you take it to your grave, wake me up when I'm on the throw to paradise,
Lift me off the ground and take me to the garden of paradise.
I left alone, I left the world I was running,
To be by your side I was dying, alone by your side I was flying.
I came alone, I've come a long way to get here, the leaves they fall to my feet,at home,they mean nothing to me.
No no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Remember how I said I'd come someday baby,
How I said I'd come around to see you one day,
I said I'd try to find a way to run away I'd get away some day and I'm gonna come someday baby,
Gonna fire on the water, hear you say,
I'm gonna fire on the water, trying to find you again and say:
I never thought I'd see you,again I never thought I'd get to be with my best friend, never thought I had to tell you again, never thought I had to tell you how I lost my mind again.
I left alone, I left the world I was running,
To be by your side I was dying, alone by your side I was flying.
I came alone, I've come a long way to get here, the leaves they fall to my feet,at home, they mean nothing to me.
No no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Remember everywhere, everything is in this place, take a place if you found a place to take,
Take away the way you want to walk away,
Make a way with my mind my mind's away,
Wake me up when I'm on the throw to paradise,
Lift me off the ground and take me to the garden of paradise.
Remember everywhere, everything is in this place,
Take a place if you found a place to take,
And if you don't have anything nice to say,
You can tell it while you take it to your grave, wake me up when I'm on the throw to paradise,
Lift me off the ground and take me to the garden of paradise.
I left alone, I left the world I was running,
To be by your side I was dying, alone by your side I was flying.
I came alone, I've come a long way to get here, the leaves they fall to my feet,at home,they mean nothing to me.
No no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no, no no no
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Lyrics submitted by thisisntjess, edited by monkeyarms11
At Home Lyrics as written by Graham Dickson Gilbert Vierich
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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,
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.
American Town
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I can't believe no one has commented on this song yet? Maybe it's just me, but this song means so much.
The beginning with the no's all at once after each other, to me, means trying to fight against something. In this case, feelings. Feelings are scary, love is scary and this is a way of dney the truth, that the feelings are there because it's confusing, no control. But then "Yeah" shows that you want to feel. Want to be where you are, trying to fight against it but loving it at the same time.
Then the rest of the lyrics just explains how much this person means, and how much you/I/he/she sacrificed for the person. But in the end it was all worth it. The struggle of life. And now it payed off.
"Remember everywhere, everything is in its place" = control. Everything is where it should be. "Lift me off the ground and take me to the garden of paradise" = Control doesn't matter as long as I'm in happiness with you, paradise.
"To be by your side I was dying, Alone by your side I was flying." = lost control but high on love. Nothing matters anymore because you're flying.
Home means nothing, becasue you're home. Home is with you. So the "actual" home is meaningless.
I love this song. This is what I sit screaming to when I'm in love. because I finally got there. Finally I'm in paradise. Doesn't matter if I lost everything. Because love remains and honestly, love is everything.
I think that this song is more about seeing friends or loved ones while they are away from home, and you had always said you were going to see them but had never had the time or money to do so. The "No No No…. Yeah yeah yeah" is showing the disbelief that the person has actually turned up at their doorstep. The I left alone, i left the world i was running. is to display that the pressure of their life had gotten to much and they decided to pack it in at short notice and abandon their old life and travel with their friend. The leaves falling et their feet shows that they can now see things around them as the beauty they are and when they were home it was just a thing that happened and was ignored but being in a new environment makes everything interesting again. there is a lot more here but I don't have the time to go into more!
I love this song and really like your interpretation. Hah it's changed how I feel when I listen to it.
Appears that the song is about leaving home and everything you know, experiencing the unknown, and reconnecting and recounting that with an old friend or perhaps lover.
The first verse she meets up with an old friend, reminding the friend that even though she left, she did find a way to see her best friend again.
Then she begins telling the friend about what has happened to her. She left everything she knew, not just left, but ran away from everything she knew. Only someone who "lost (their) mind" would do such a thing and it was difficult task to run into the unknown alone, as she was "dyng" to "be by your (her friend) side" even though she was "running" away, because she was "flying" or happy when she was with her friend.
The journey of finding herself in the unknown was long and arduous, "I came a long way to get here," and now home and the memories she had a hard time letting go of mean nothing. The leaves at her feet obviously should bring some nostalga, but it didn't.
Then she tells her friend to treasure every moment "remember everywhere", find out his/her purpose "take a place if you found a place", and be a good person, while she is ready to die and go to heaven.
I totally agree with Sannispannis, but in my opinion, I feel like the chorus (even though it's sung differently) actually goes like this:
"I left alone, I left the world. I was running to be by your side I was dying alone By your side I was flying"
I'm not 100% sure, but like, to me it makes more sense if you read it that way as opposed to reading it the exact way it's sung.
Like, the first part makes sense if you read it the way it's sung cuz it could be like 'i'm dying to be by your side'. But the second part makes no sense if you read it that way. You can't be by someone's side but also be alone at the same time. And even if you look at it as feeling 'alone' as in neglected or what have you, it doesn't really tie in to the theme of the rest of the song.
But yeah, I feel like if you read the chorus differently than it's sung, it emphasizes the whole 'doing everything in your power to be with the one you love' kind of thing.
Regardless, I love this song so so much and it's so relevant to my current situation. I live in New Zealand and I'm in love with someone who is living in New York City. And I feel like when I finally get to move over to NYC in two years time, this is the song that will be playing in my head. Kind of like a victory song of sorts. Like. "I kept my promise. I told you I'd do everything in my power to close the distance. Here I am. I love you. I've been looking forward to this for a long long time. I was dying to be here, by your side." :)
Ey! I just see your comment and I'm also in love with someone really far away well I'm from Central America and he is from South America, hopefully I will see him in january and this song means a lot for me it remembers me what I have to fight for and give my best, hope you guys get to see each other... good luck! glad to see LDR stories (:
Oh, and by the way, where it says
"Gonna fire on the water, hear you say, I'm gonna fire on the water, trying to find you again and say"
it should be
"gonna fly around the world to hear you say, I'm gonna fly around the world to try and find you again and say"
:)
Great song! :)