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.
Strive, strive, surmount the obstacles
Become the essence of your goals
Hereditary dream
Pray that you may attain that destiny
Fall into the coveted line
Where life is but a theme
Of pretense in lustrous guise
Claims and values
Charts of means and status
Plaques to show your strife
Do your neighbour clones approve
Picture perfect illustration
Imitation of life
Where the path is evened out
All obstructions removed
Great viable citizen
Are you happy now?
Then praise your God and bow
Shimmering surface
The gleam of blinding lies
Become the product
The thing you so desire
To what length would you go to reach your goals?
What mantra will you use to justify your means?
Who will you betray to secure your dream?
What sins will you commit to avoid your sins be seen?
Do not look down
Do not look down
Or the abysmal beast of non-conformity
Might stare some unpleasant truth
Into your desensitized mind
Shimmering surface
The gleam of blinding lies
Become the product
The thing you so desire
Become the essence of your goals
Hereditary dream
Pray that you may attain that destiny
Fall into the coveted line
Where life is but a theme
Of pretense in lustrous guise
Claims and values
Charts of means and status
Plaques to show your strife
Do your neighbour clones approve
Picture perfect illustration
Imitation of life
Where the path is evened out
All obstructions removed
Great viable citizen
Are you happy now?
Then praise your God and bow
Shimmering surface
The gleam of blinding lies
Become the product
The thing you so desire
To what length would you go to reach your goals?
What mantra will you use to justify your means?
Who will you betray to secure your dream?
What sins will you commit to avoid your sins be seen?
Do not look down
Do not look down
Or the abysmal beast of non-conformity
Might stare some unpleasant truth
Into your desensitized mind
Shimmering surface
The gleam of blinding lies
Become the product
The thing you so desire
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
Here they are basically eviscerating the idea of corporatism or being a "company man." You give up a large part of yourself to attain somebody else's definition of success. The life of a person who gives up their individuality to attain that kind of life is the "imitation of life." Then when you look back and think what you could have done with that life, the "abysmal beast of non-conformity" will stare back at you and you will realize just how much you gave up to gain something that is so ultimately meaningless.
Definitely in the running for "best metal song on planet freaking earth."
@nh I agree completely with this interpretation, I think it also touches upon the pressure to carry on the path of predecessors who have also led lives of conformity.
I think this song is about what happens to people when they become so obsessed with financial and social success that they lose their humanity. It truly is a sickness. I've witnessed it firsthand. Some of the most financially successful people that I know have gotten there with an equal amount of hard work and inferiority complexes. They are defined only by their assets and can only relate to those who are defined by the same They have the emotional quotient of a concrete block and the attention span of a fruit fly. The song title is great. By not looking down at your own humanity, you can convince yourself that all that matters in life is the plaques on your wall and the amount of money in your 401K.