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.
Hear the sirens, hear the sirens
Hear the sirens, hear the circus so profound
I hear the sirens more and more in this here town
Let me catch my breath to breathe then reach across the bend
Just to know we're safe, I am a grateful man
The slightest bit of light and I can see you clear
Oh, had to take your hand, and feel your breath
For fear this someday will be over
I pull you close, so much to lose
Knowing that, nothing lasts forever
I didn't care, before you were here
I danced in laughter, with the ever after
But all things change, let this remain
Hear the sirens covering distance in the night
The sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time?
For every choice, mistake I made, is not my plan
To send you in the arms of another man
And if you choose to stay, I'll wait, I'll understand
Oh, it's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
It's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
The fear goes away, the fear goes away
The fear goes away
Hear the sirens, hear the circus so profound
I hear the sirens more and more in this here town
Let me catch my breath to breathe then reach across the bend
Just to know we're safe, I am a grateful man
The slightest bit of light and I can see you clear
Oh, had to take your hand, and feel your breath
For fear this someday will be over
I pull you close, so much to lose
Knowing that, nothing lasts forever
I didn't care, before you were here
I danced in laughter, with the ever after
But all things change, let this remain
Hear the sirens covering distance in the night
The sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time?
For every choice, mistake I made, is not my plan
To send you in the arms of another man
And if you choose to stay, I'll wait, I'll understand
Oh, it's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
It's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
The fear goes away, the fear goes away
The fear goes away
Lyrics submitted by fluorine, edited by Romanza, jholguin79, cylam, speeb, RedMosquito75, cjk22
Sirens Lyrics as written by Michael David Mccready Eddie Jerome Vedder
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing 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
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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"
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This song describes a situation, but the details of the situation are obscure. I think that most people will believe that the "sirens" are the sirens of police cars. The main character in this song may be a drug dealer, or some other type of criminal, and as he sits with his girlfriend or his wife late at night and listens to the sirens of the cop cars, he wonders if they're coming for him or not. He's telling his significant other how much he loves her, "I have to take your hand and feel your breath for fear this someday will be over, I pulled you close, so much to lose knowing that nothing lasts forever" (stanza 3). "Hear the sirens covering distance in the night The sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time" (Stanza 5).
Apparently the band was staying in LA at the time, and Vedder stayed up late and wrote the lyrics. Anyone who's stayed in LA knows that you hear an awful lot of police sirens going off.
Furthermore, Vedder could be paralleling the situation I just described in my first paragraph with another situation. The police "sirens" could be symbolic of death. Maybe the main character has cancer, or some other type of deathly disease, and he's wondering when the "sirens" will come and take him away from his lady-friend. Perhaps he's a recovering drug addict, and the "sirens" represent a relapse. The "sirens" could even be just a random murder, and as our world becomes more and more violent, our main character is wondering when he will be the next victim.
Anyways, this is yet another gem of a song from Pearl Jam. Songs are at their best when they are open for interpretation and can mean different things for different people, and "Sirens" is just that. These are just my thoughts... I'm excited for this thread to pick up and see what other people think about it.