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.
(Verse 1:)
Now I'm a flip the track and bring you back to reality
I'm like Wesley Snipes, I act without a salary
Cause I don't need nobody sayin "Lights, Camera, Action!"
I act on reaction
Fuck what you see on television
Cause nowadays all of us live in the hellavision
On every single channel it's the same old sane
Brothers' poppin their brain
Or gettin wrecked at a soccer game
Six brothers fallin victim to the street
After mad ? tribe vibes rollin in the black jeep
Every other channel spent its money on the talk shows
From Oprah to Horazo, everybody in New York knows
But when a brother gets real
They make the story opposite
And try to offer niggas raw deals
(Chorus:)
Television tells lies to the vision
The world's a prison
We're livin in hellavision
(Verse 2:)
Every day your lie to me is drama
But not the type of drama that my T.V. shows
Because it makes the drama calmer
When a lady's caught cheatin
She sets with the next man
And doesn't even catch a ass-beatin
Reality check - that's what the T.V. said
Cause in real life it's two to the fuckin head
Samedy Sam fillin bugs with slugs
Wild is cookin up these deadly drugs
Bart Simpson is cursin up for storm
And children love this shit man, come on
I see kids that say bringin guns to school
Ten year old crack heads and that ain't cool
My four year old daughter curses worse than Bart
Straight from my heart, it's tearin me apart
(Chorus)
(Verse 3:)
And now, hip hop is labeled as a violencer
Like everyone who rhymes packs a gat with the silencer
Every other ? hip hopper goes to prison
Over some dumb shit or for the real life livin
But who's to know what we've been goin through
When all you see is one side of us
The side the T.V. be showing you
You never hear about the stress or the work
Or the hard times we had or hip hop was getting jerked
You only see us in the limelight
But when the night comes, we're always linked to crime, right?
Man - what I've been through is strife
Yo - they could make fifty movies of my motherfuckin life
And there's a million like me
The people you don't see
When you watch your everyday T.V.
(Chorus)
Now I'm a flip the track and bring you back to reality
I'm like Wesley Snipes, I act without a salary
Cause I don't need nobody sayin "Lights, Camera, Action!"
I act on reaction
Fuck what you see on television
Cause nowadays all of us live in the hellavision
On every single channel it's the same old sane
Brothers' poppin their brain
Or gettin wrecked at a soccer game
Six brothers fallin victim to the street
After mad ? tribe vibes rollin in the black jeep
Every other channel spent its money on the talk shows
From Oprah to Horazo, everybody in New York knows
But when a brother gets real
They make the story opposite
And try to offer niggas raw deals
(Chorus:)
Television tells lies to the vision
The world's a prison
We're livin in hellavision
(Verse 2:)
Every day your lie to me is drama
But not the type of drama that my T.V. shows
Because it makes the drama calmer
When a lady's caught cheatin
She sets with the next man
And doesn't even catch a ass-beatin
Reality check - that's what the T.V. said
Cause in real life it's two to the fuckin head
Samedy Sam fillin bugs with slugs
Wild is cookin up these deadly drugs
Bart Simpson is cursin up for storm
And children love this shit man, come on
I see kids that say bringin guns to school
Ten year old crack heads and that ain't cool
My four year old daughter curses worse than Bart
Straight from my heart, it's tearin me apart
(Chorus)
(Verse 3:)
And now, hip hop is labeled as a violencer
Like everyone who rhymes packs a gat with the silencer
Every other ? hip hopper goes to prison
Over some dumb shit or for the real life livin
But who's to know what we've been goin through
When all you see is one side of us
The side the T.V. be showing you
You never hear about the stress or the work
Or the hard times we had or hip hop was getting jerked
You only see us in the limelight
But when the night comes, we're always linked to crime, right?
Man - what I've been through is strife
Yo - they could make fifty movies of my motherfuckin life
And there's a million like me
The people you don't see
When you watch your everyday T.V.
(Chorus)
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Hellavision Lyrics as written by Michael Deering Kevin Harold Mc Kenzie
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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