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.
S-sitting down by my window,
Oh, looking at the rain
S-sitting down by my window now now,
All around I felt it,
All I could see was the rain
Something grabbed a hold of me, honey,
Felt to me honey like, lord, a ball and chain
Yeah! hey! you know what I mean,
But its way too heavy for you,
You cant hold it tomorrow
Say, whoa, whoa, honey, it cant be
Just because I got to want your love
Please please please please, whoa please, please
Whoa, honey it cant be
Just because I got to need you daddy.
Please don't you let me down, no, please, lord!
Here you gone today, but I wanted to love you,
I wanted to hold you, yeah, till the day I die,
Till the day, till the day,
Yeah! hey! hey! all right!
Say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
Not anything I ever wanted from you daddy
Tell me now, now, now, now, oh, tell me now, yeah
I say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah yeah, hey!
And I want someone that could tell me, tell me why
Just because I got to want your love
Honey, just because I got to need, need, need your love
I said I don't understand, honey, but I wanna chance to try
Try, try, try, try try try try
Honey when everybody in the world wants the same damn thing
When everybody in the world will need the same lonely thing
When I wanna work for your love, daddy
When I wanna try for your love, daddy
I don't understand how come you're gone, man
I don't understand why half the
World is still crying, man, when the other half of the world is still
Crying too, man, I cant get it together
If you got a cat for one day, man I mean, if you, say, say, if you want a
Cat for 365 days, right you ain't got him for 365 days, you got him for one
Day, man, well I tell you that one day
'N, better be your life, man
Because, you know, you can say, oh man, you
Can cry about the other 364, man, but you're gonna lose that one day, man,
And that's all you've got. you gotta call that man
That's what it is, man. if you got it today you don't want it
Tomorrow, man, cause you don't need it, cause as a matter of fact, as we
Discovered in the train, tomorrow never happens,
It's all the same fucking day, man
So you gotta, when you wanna hold a sigh,
You gotta hold him like its the last minute in your life, baby
You gotta hold, whoa, whoa, hold him
'Cause someday some weights gonna come on your shoulders, babe,
It's gonna feel too heavy, its gonna weigh on you,
It's gonna feel just like a ball, ball, ball, oh daddy,
And a chain
Oh, looking at the rain
S-sitting down by my window now now,
All around I felt it,
All I could see was the rain
Something grabbed a hold of me, honey,
Felt to me honey like, lord, a ball and chain
Yeah! hey! you know what I mean,
But its way too heavy for you,
You cant hold it tomorrow
Say, whoa, whoa, honey, it cant be
Just because I got to want your love
Please please please please, whoa please, please
Whoa, honey it cant be
Just because I got to need you daddy.
Please don't you let me down, no, please, lord!
Here you gone today, but I wanted to love you,
I wanted to hold you, yeah, till the day I die,
Till the day, till the day,
Yeah! hey! hey! all right!
Say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
Not anything I ever wanted from you daddy
Tell me now, now, now, now, oh, tell me now, yeah
I say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah yeah, hey!
And I want someone that could tell me, tell me why
Just because I got to want your love
Honey, just because I got to need, need, need your love
I said I don't understand, honey, but I wanna chance to try
Try, try, try, try try try try
Honey when everybody in the world wants the same damn thing
When everybody in the world will need the same lonely thing
When I wanna work for your love, daddy
When I wanna try for your love, daddy
I don't understand how come you're gone, man
I don't understand why half the
World is still crying, man, when the other half of the world is still
Crying too, man, I cant get it together
If you got a cat for one day, man I mean, if you, say, say, if you want a
Cat for 365 days, right you ain't got him for 365 days, you got him for one
Day, man, well I tell you that one day
'N, better be your life, man
Because, you know, you can say, oh man, you
Can cry about the other 364, man, but you're gonna lose that one day, man,
And that's all you've got. you gotta call that man
That's what it is, man. if you got it today you don't want it
Tomorrow, man, cause you don't need it, cause as a matter of fact, as we
Discovered in the train, tomorrow never happens,
It's all the same fucking day, man
So you gotta, when you wanna hold a sigh,
You gotta hold him like its the last minute in your life, baby
You gotta hold, whoa, whoa, hold him
'Cause someday some weights gonna come on your shoulders, babe,
It's gonna feel too heavy, its gonna weigh on you,
It's gonna feel just like a ball, ball, ball, oh daddy,
And a chain
Lyrics submitted by HAMQUEN, edited by IllToast2That
Ball and Chain Lyrics as written by Miguel Drummond Julian Godfrey Brookhouse
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
No way Big Mama said "fucking.' Cannot be. I gotta check this out.