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.
Half-mast land grants homesteading laws
past Dodge Summit toward Athabasca Falls
practicing our Avocets and Gnatcatcher calls
Owl: I laid down my guns where the soldierfish swam
& slept inside the shoe of the world's tallest man
I saw Charlotte Corday with the knife in her hand
(It was nothing new)
I've perched on Steele Dakota's sandhill crane
I flew among the Paiute before the Mormon rain
I was in Virginia City for the stringing up of Clubfoot Lane
but I've never seen anything like you
All untied, by and by!
But I'd pour the matrimony wine
if you're ever so inclined
while low in a lodgepole branch nearby
a lovesick Barnyard an amorous eye
Owl: What unprecedented gift does this afternoon provide?
Walrus: What from the air now calls to water on the land?
What from my seclusion does this charlatan demand?
What to do now with my best-laid eremetic plans?
I've been to the Arfaks where the Sicklebills fly
seen Tangier's acrobatics nine stories high
I was there at Appomattox back in '65
when the General arrived
but I've never been in this room before!
(aside)
All untied, by and by!
that same old dream's trapped in my mind
I'm bound in ropes and on the firing line
well I wake up disappointed every time
To Owl: If the weather ever withers up your vine
Jacob knows a ladder you can climb
If that old thorn is still buried in your side
Jacob knows a ladder you can climb
Owl: Well if your pacific rivers all run dry
their clouds will fill my loud corrupted sky
and if the pleasures of your heavens ever end
that very ladder just as well descends
past Dodge Summit toward Athabasca Falls
practicing our Avocets and Gnatcatcher calls
Owl: I laid down my guns where the soldierfish swam
& slept inside the shoe of the world's tallest man
I saw Charlotte Corday with the knife in her hand
(It was nothing new)
I've perched on Steele Dakota's sandhill crane
I flew among the Paiute before the Mormon rain
I was in Virginia City for the stringing up of Clubfoot Lane
but I've never seen anything like you
All untied, by and by!
But I'd pour the matrimony wine
if you're ever so inclined
while low in a lodgepole branch nearby
a lovesick Barnyard an amorous eye
Owl: What unprecedented gift does this afternoon provide?
Walrus: What from the air now calls to water on the land?
What from my seclusion does this charlatan demand?
What to do now with my best-laid eremetic plans?
I've been to the Arfaks where the Sicklebills fly
seen Tangier's acrobatics nine stories high
I was there at Appomattox back in '65
when the General arrived
but I've never been in this room before!
(aside)
All untied, by and by!
that same old dream's trapped in my mind
I'm bound in ropes and on the firing line
well I wake up disappointed every time
To Owl: If the weather ever withers up your vine
Jacob knows a ladder you can climb
If that old thorn is still buried in your side
Jacob knows a ladder you can climb
Owl: Well if your pacific rivers all run dry
their clouds will fill my loud corrupted sky
and if the pleasures of your heavens ever end
that very ladder just as well descends
Lyrics submitted by MusicSoul0889
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Half-mast land grants homesteading laws past Dodge Summit toward Athabasca Falls practicing our Avocets and Gnatcatcher calls Owl: I laid down my guns where the soldierfish swam & slept inside the shoe of the world's tallest man I saw Charlotte Corday with the knife in her hand (It was nothing new) I've perched on Steele Dakota's sandhill crane I flew among the Paiute before the Mormon rain I was in Virginia City for the stringing up of Clubfoot Lane but I've never seen anything like you
All untied, by and by! But I'd pour the matrimony wine if you're ever so inclined while low in a lodgepole branch nearby a lovesick Barnyard an amorous eye
Owl: What unprecedented gift does this afternoon provide? Walrus: What from the air now calls to water on the land? What from my seclusion does this charlatan demand? What to do now with my best-laid eremetic plans?
I've been to the Arfaks where the Sicklebills fly seen Tangier's acrobatics nine stories high I was there at Appomattox back in '65 when the General arrived but I've never been in this room before! (aside)
All untied, by and by! that same old dream's trapped in my mind I'm bound in ropes and on the firing line well I wake up disappointed every time
To Owl: If the weather ever withers up your vine Jacob knows a ladder you can climb If that old thorn is still buried in your side Jacob knows a ladder you can climb
Owl: Well if your pacific rivers all run dry their clouds will fill my loud corrupted sky and if the pleasures of your heavens ever end that very ladder just as well descends
Thanks! I've corrected
Thanks! I've corrected
The transition at the end of this song is absolutely fantastic. But so it this song in general.
This may be nitpicking, but Charlotte Corday was around during the French Revolution in the early 1790s, and this is supposed to be set in 1878. Poetic license?
i think it might be implying that the owl has lived a long time?<br /> <br /> only explanation i can think of.
I don't think so, from a quick search it seems the longest owl life recorded is about 25-30 years. So I'm guessing it's more of a poetic license thing.
Done some more research and I think he may be referring to the Jacques-Louis David painting, painted in 1847 (more plausible for the owl to have seen). Although, it should be said that the painting depicts the knife stuck in Marat, not in Charlotte's hand.
This is a running theme in this album; see Grist for the Malady Mill's reference to Casey Jones' train crash, which is anachronistic as well. I have yet to discern the purpose, but for me personally it makes the album more magic and less real, like a weird storybook.
i'm confused as to why mwY would post lyrics to this song with lines that aren't actually included in the song and missing lines that are actually in the song
oh well
To me, the owl is worldly and in love with (and wants to marry) the Walrus, who is depressed and has devoted himself to a life of monastic solitude. These might represent Aaron and someone who once loved him, or even two sides of himself. The ending suggests that both of their longings will one day be satisfied by Heaven (to which Jacob's ladder ascended).
I like this interpretation, but the ending seems to suggest a disagreement about God and/or spirituality. The Walrus tells the owl, like many evangelicals, that it can find peace with God if it should run into difficulties. <br /> <br /> But the owl, perhaps frustrated by these claims, responds by saying, what's bad for you is bad for him as well "Well if your pacific rivers all run dry, their clouds will fill my loud corrupted sky" (i.e. life is not that simple as just finding God and everything being okay) and that if the Walrus should ever give up on his (apparently fulfilling) spirituality, there's a way back as well, to owl.<br /> <br /> Kind of hard to explain what I mean, but that's the just of it. May be utterly wrong, but thats what was brought to mind.
I like your interpretation of the pacific rivers line. I read "and if pleasures of your heavens ever end" as the Owl (the hedonist in the words of the band's website) understanding and somewhat mocking the Bear's spirituality through the Owl's own understanding of what is meaningful in life, pleasure. I also read the line as the Owl somehow recognizing that the Bear isn't all that happy (as seen in the Bear's aside). Then, I see the last line as the Owl consoling the Bear (or maybe it's more of a comeback) by telling him that, just as God is the Owl's best hope should his life of pleasure go South, God is also the best hope for the Bear once he realizes the limits of his indulgent self-seclusion.
I meant the say Walrus instead of Bear...so many animals.
On second thought, I agree with you. I was thinking of "just as well descends" as the ladder lowering from heaven, like an attic ladder. But then I realized that Jacob saw angels ascending and descending the ladder to Heaven, so Owl is telling Walrus that, if he should ever give up his monastic ways, he can climb down that same ladder.
"If the weather ever withers up your vine" (reference to Jonah in Jonah 4:6-7)
"If that old thorn is still buried in your side" (may be a reference to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
They both have to do with God causing suffering on one of his followers to teach him something.
Is the Owl the main speaker in the beginning? It specifies the Owl only later, but the mix of different sights and times go along with the quick flying ability of the bird. The Owl has been everywhere and seen everything, even Charlotte Corday's knife, from the violent French Revolution (thanks NotTheEyes) is just a repetition of what's happened before. All is untied in the end, the Owl proclaims, so that it may be repeated (all circles end where they begin, after all).
The Owl seems to be surprised by the Walrus, for even though he's all alone, he has something, the joy of being set free. Walrus offers Owl the knowledge of God, how to encounter him. Jacob's ladder refers to the instance at Bethel in which God first communicated to Jacob directly, and allowed him to experience His presence.
Some have commented on other songs in the album, and on Weiss symbology in past albums, that water represents God's presence. A fish in water, for one. Although the Walrus is alone, and the album's philosophy focuses on the need for others, the Walrus mentions "water on the land," probably the peaceful rivers the Owl talks about at the end. So the Walrus does not walk in a desert like the speaker of Aubergine; he travels in communion with water, since he's a semi-aquatic mammal. The evaporation "running dry" of the rivers, forming clouds, may be bringing that presence into the Owl's sphere of life, his wondering at the experience.
The Owl in the last quote voices some doubt, would it satisfy? He's seen everything undone on earth, so could heavenly joy be undone, the ladder leading away from God's joyful presence?