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.
Tattoo Shop
Hi, Doc
Hey Fish, what are you doin'?
If you don't mind we're gonna record this
Is that cool?
Oh, that's cooler'n hell
Hell yeah, 52's biggest dream man
You know his biggest dream was
Me and him go party with you
On the trail of torn out twisters
Two angels on a mission came
Dust devils danced before them
In the path of the hurricane
On the road to Oklahoma
Through the flatlands from L.A.
From the shadows in the valley
From a country where the lizards play
While they drove they kept the radio on
Why don't you sing along, sing along, sing along?
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
I don't think so
A man stands behind his shadow
A man stands behind his words
These men are together with family
To defend their rights in another man's world
Most people stood against them
Most people disagreed
With the need for all those weapons
In our safe, secure society
Paint the words and the pictures on another man's skin
We are lovers, warriors, magician kings
Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Well, I don't think so, don't think so
Fuckin' brilliant, man
Okay, here's what happened
52 barred the door shut from the inside
A gunfight started on the front porch
52 shot back
You know they come into his home with it
So he's protecting himself
The guy inside the house blew his brains out
Yeah, they made it look like he killed himself
But no one believes he would
'Cause he's not that kind of man, that's all
I think, he wasn't afraid of death
You know, he believed in something to die for
That's what he did
Some say he had it coming
Others say he was sole to blame
But who says they've got the rights
If any at all to blow the brothers away
A man got a right to wonder
A man got a right to dream
Without looking over his shoulder
To choose the manner of the life he leads
One man's thoughts on another man's skin
We are lovers, warriors, magician kings
Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Well, I don't think so
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
We don't think so
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
I don't think so
What they have done
Was they've come in and murdered him
For his bombs and his ammunition
Just like that Waco Texas
Or any of these other things
Over here in the United States
Anybody that's stockpiling firearms and ammunitions
Is a threat to the government
So the government wages war against us
They tortured him, he went out
But I'm sure he stood up
Like he was supposed to, you know?
They smashed all the rings
Shut on his fingers with a hammer
It was all an orchestrated plan, man
The more the closer I was getting to it to the truth
The more they got everybody looking at me
As being the guy that pulled the trigger
And what they did when they killed 52
Is they broke the whole family up
That's exactly what they wanted to do
They wanted to break all of us up
Hi, Doc
Hey Fish, what are you doin'?
If you don't mind we're gonna record this
Is that cool?
Oh, that's cooler'n hell
Hell yeah, 52's biggest dream man
You know his biggest dream was
Me and him go party with you
On the trail of torn out twisters
Two angels on a mission came
Dust devils danced before them
In the path of the hurricane
On the road to Oklahoma
Through the flatlands from L.A.
From the shadows in the valley
From a country where the lizards play
While they drove they kept the radio on
Why don't you sing along, sing along, sing along?
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
I don't think so
A man stands behind his shadow
A man stands behind his words
These men are together with family
To defend their rights in another man's world
Most people stood against them
Most people disagreed
With the need for all those weapons
In our safe, secure society
Paint the words and the pictures on another man's skin
We are lovers, warriors, magician kings
Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Well, I don't think so, don't think so
Fuckin' brilliant, man
Okay, here's what happened
52 barred the door shut from the inside
A gunfight started on the front porch
52 shot back
You know they come into his home with it
So he's protecting himself
The guy inside the house blew his brains out
Yeah, they made it look like he killed himself
But no one believes he would
'Cause he's not that kind of man, that's all
I think, he wasn't afraid of death
You know, he believed in something to die for
That's what he did
Some say he had it coming
Others say he was sole to blame
But who says they've got the rights
If any at all to blow the brothers away
A man got a right to wonder
A man got a right to dream
Without looking over his shoulder
To choose the manner of the life he leads
One man's thoughts on another man's skin
We are lovers, warriors, magician kings
Brother 52
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
Well, I don't think so
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
We don't think so
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo
Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, Brother 52
I don't think so
What they have done
Was they've come in and murdered him
For his bombs and his ammunition
Just like that Waco Texas
Or any of these other things
Over here in the United States
Anybody that's stockpiling firearms and ammunitions
Is a threat to the government
So the government wages war against us
They tortured him, he went out
But I'm sure he stood up
Like he was supposed to, you know?
They smashed all the rings
Shut on his fingers with a hammer
It was all an orchestrated plan, man
The more the closer I was getting to it to the truth
The more they got everybody looking at me
As being the guy that pulled the trigger
And what they did when they killed 52
Is they broke the whole family up
That's exactly what they wanted to do
They wanted to break all of us up
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Brother 52 Lyrics as written by Steven Wilson Derek William Dick
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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