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.
Drowning myself every night
Me versus me has always been my biggest fight
I've been so confused for so long
And the answers always seem so far out of sight
So I fill it up, fill it up one more time
So when everything is wrong at least I still feel right
I'm in the tunnel but I can't see the light
I just want to feel whole again
So I can let you in
I just want to feel whole again
I just want to feel whole
Oh where is my self control?
Where is my self control?
I've been thinking this could be the end of me
Who is this person in the mirror I see?
And I have come so far, thought I was so strong
The truth is I've just fed myself a lie for too long
I never thought this would be me
But now I'm on the verge of self destruction
How could this happen to me?
I've never been the type to run from anything, run from anything
So sick and tired of wondering where my morals have gone
My father didn't raise me to become this
Where did I go wrong?
There is not much left of me
I can't feel the ground beneath my feet
There is not much left of me
I let everyone around me down
And now I'm headed to the bottom of the bottle
Just to block out the sound
God I need you now!
I've been thinking this could be the end of me
Who is this person in the mirror I see?
And I have come so far, thought I was so strong
The truth is I've just fed myself a lie for too long
This is my vice, this is me weak
I need your love to erase this doubt
I need your hand to pull me out
Sometimes I feel like I will never learn
'Cause the bottle's always there when I have nowhere else to turn
Will I ever learn? Will I ever learn?
I take another sip
The dark room that I'm in becomes dimly lit
This can't be all there is
And I've been thinking this could be the end of me
Who is this person in the mirror I see?
And I have come so far, thought I was so strong
The truth is I've just fed myself a lie for too long
And the only one to blame is me
Who have I become?
This is my desperate shout
Pull me out!
Pull me out!
God I need you now!
Me versus me has always been my biggest fight
I've been so confused for so long
And the answers always seem so far out of sight
So I fill it up, fill it up one more time
So when everything is wrong at least I still feel right
I'm in the tunnel but I can't see the light
I just want to feel whole again
So I can let you in
I just want to feel whole again
I just want to feel whole
Oh where is my self control?
Where is my self control?
I've been thinking this could be the end of me
Who is this person in the mirror I see?
And I have come so far, thought I was so strong
The truth is I've just fed myself a lie for too long
I never thought this would be me
But now I'm on the verge of self destruction
How could this happen to me?
I've never been the type to run from anything, run from anything
So sick and tired of wondering where my morals have gone
My father didn't raise me to become this
Where did I go wrong?
There is not much left of me
I can't feel the ground beneath my feet
There is not much left of me
I let everyone around me down
And now I'm headed to the bottom of the bottle
Just to block out the sound
God I need you now!
I've been thinking this could be the end of me
Who is this person in the mirror I see?
And I have come so far, thought I was so strong
The truth is I've just fed myself a lie for too long
This is my vice, this is me weak
I need your love to erase this doubt
I need your hand to pull me out
Sometimes I feel like I will never learn
'Cause the bottle's always there when I have nowhere else to turn
Will I ever learn? Will I ever learn?
I take another sip
The dark room that I'm in becomes dimly lit
This can't be all there is
And I've been thinking this could be the end of me
Who is this person in the mirror I see?
And I have come so far, thought I was so strong
The truth is I've just fed myself a lie for too long
And the only one to blame is me
Who have I become?
This is my desperate shout
Pull me out!
Pull me out!
God I need you now!
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This is my opinion so hate it or don't but i feel like hes going threw addiction, Depression, losing someone, or trying to feel something other then the pain hes feeling right now so people would do anything to feel something other then the pain they feeli like cutting themselves, overdosing or even killing themselves i know for a fact because i'm one of those people whos tried at least one of these things it's hard to forget and you always feel alone i feel like thats what hes thinking but he tries to hide his pain with drugs or cutts all that and believes he is gonna kill himself