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.
Looking up from underneath
Fractured moonlight on the sea
Reflections still look the same to me
As before I went under
And it's peaceful in the deep
Cathedral where you cannot breathe
No need to pray, no need to speak
Now I am under all
And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
Though the pressure's hard to take
It's the only way I can escape
It seems a heavy choice to make
But now I am under, oh
And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
So, so cold and so sweet
In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold
And all this devotion, I never knew at all
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released
In the arms of the ocean delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
Ooh, so cold and so sweet
Fractured moonlight on the sea
Reflections still look the same to me
As before I went under
And it's peaceful in the deep
Cathedral where you cannot breathe
No need to pray, no need to speak
Now I am under all
And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
Though the pressure's hard to take
It's the only way I can escape
It seems a heavy choice to make
But now I am under, oh
And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
So, so cold and so sweet
In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold
And all this devotion, I never knew at all
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released
In the arms of the ocean delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Delivered me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in
I'm slipping underneath
Ooh, so cold and so sweet
Lyrics submitted by ValH1618, edited by Cryhavic, Michelle31, OsbornLove, sabanana, Elluna, IsaFlow, CyberDream, MycroftJr, starchmuffin, Cat97, culprit, malina5432no, novembermayhem
Never Let Me Go Lyrics as written by Tom Harpoon Paul Epworth
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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To me, this song's about feeling so unwanted in life that she commits suicide by drowning.
And it's peaceful in the deep 'Cause either way you cannot breathe No need to pray, no need to speak Now I am under
She's finally finding some kind of peace from whatever she was going through, and no longer feeling the need to pray for release or speak to explain herself
Oh, and it's breaking over me A thousand miles out to the sea bed Found the place to rest my head
She's found the place she wants to be, far away from anyone else who might try to hurt her.
(Never let me go, never let me go Never let me go, never let me go)
This is her begging the ocean never to let her go, to keep her safe in oblivion and death and not just wash her up on a shore.
And the arms of the ocean are carrying me And all this devotion was rushing over me And the crushes are heaven for a sinner like me But the arms of the ocean deliver me
For me, this says that the ocean is pulling her in, devoted to her, which no-one ever was in her life. The crushes are heaven might mean that the ocean crushing her is like heaven because it's punishing her for what went wrong.
Though the pressure's hard to take It's the only way I can escape It seems a heavy choice to make But now I am under, oh
It's hard to go through with it, but it's the only way she can escape from the hell of her life. To others, it might seem like too heavy a choice, but she doesn't regret it.
And it's over and I'm going under But I'm not giving up I'm just giving in
I think that this means she's not giving up what she had, she's giving in to what she wants.
Oh, slipping underneath So cold and so sweet
I heard this as sleeping; showing the ocean as a bed, something comforting, as if dying's like a dream.
In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold And all this devotion, well, I never knew at all And the questions I have for a sinner released As the arms of the ocean deliver me
She finally dies; she's been released from her sins, and the ocean's giving her all the devotion she never had.
perfect interpretation. this is literally everything that i interpreted.
This is my favourite song, I listen to it all the time, it rminds me of some one special that i have in my life at the moment. This song motavates me and helps me get through tough things that I come across every so often.
@Nairanna I definitely agree with you. This song is obviously about drowning to death. IThe lyric is actually "Cathedral where you cannot breathe, no need to pray, no need to speak", which makes a little more sense. Also, I don't think the pressure is about the pessures of life, but the physical pressure at the bottom of the ocean. Drowning is a pretty painful way to die.