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.
Oh no,
I'm dying wrong
I can read it in
The whites
And the thing is
I knew it before
I re-open my eyes
And if I didn't know
To be afraid
The faces made me sure that I do now
As I sit and wait
As I sit and wait
Oh no,
I'm dying wrong
But I'm still laying here
Alive
With a black spot
On my arm
And so calm, I look inside
And I see the things
I always knew
But wasn't sure until now
That if it comes to claim
That if it comes to claim
I won't run
I won't run
I won't run
I won't run
I'm dying wrong
I can read it in
The whites
And the thing is
I knew it before
I re-open my eyes
And if I didn't know
To be afraid
The faces made me sure that I do now
As I sit and wait
As I sit and wait
Oh no,
I'm dying wrong
But I'm still laying here
Alive
With a black spot
On my arm
And so calm, I look inside
And I see the things
I always knew
But wasn't sure until now
That if it comes to claim
That if it comes to claim
I won't run
I won't run
I won't run
I won't run
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by Contaminator, SephA, laxycat
Black Spot Lyrics as written by Matthew James Frazier Kelcey Paul Ayer
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"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.
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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.
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Honestly? "black spot on my arm" instantly triggered a sign of drug use to me. (Track marks? C'mon.)
"I can read it in / The whites / And the thing is, / I knew it before" Interesting draw on knowing what you're getting yourself into when you start shooting up or using.
"I re-open my eyes / And if I didn't know / To be afraid / The faces made me sure that I do now / As I sit and wait / As I sit and wait" I always took this to mean the gradual shifting into the experience, how suddenly vision is altered, hallucinations or exaggerations...sitting and waiting to peak or come down/feel something.
Not only that, but: "I'm dying wrong / But I'm still laying here, / Alive" It's totally common during a drug trip to feel like you're dying, or separate from the present reality; at the same time you're aware of how alive you are. "Oh no, / I'm dying wrong" also accommodating this context.
"And so calm, I look inside" Hat-tip to the moment of clarity.
"And I see the things / I always knew / But wasn't sure until now / That if it comes to claim / That if it comes to claim / I won't run" And again, sort of emphasizing some clarity unlocked during that period of time.
I don't know if they'd ever...write about something like that, but the connotations behind this are so close to drug use it makes me wonder.