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.
Boys, workin' on empty
Is that the kinda way to face the burning heat?
I just think about my baby
I'm so full of love I could barely eat
There's nothing sweeter than my baby
I'd never want once from the cherry tree
'Cause my baby's sweet as can be
She give me toothaches just from kissin' me
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
Boys, when my baby found me
I was three days on a drunken sin
I woke with her walls around me
Nothin' in her room but an empty crib
And I was burnin' up a fever
I didn't care much how long I lived
But I swear I thought I dreamed her
She never asked me once about the wrong I did
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
My babe would never fret none
About what my hands and my body done
If the Lord don't forgive me
I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me
When I was kissing on my baby
And she put her love down soft and sweet
In the low lamplight I was free
Heaven and hell were words to me
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
Is that the kinda way to face the burning heat?
I just think about my baby
I'm so full of love I could barely eat
There's nothing sweeter than my baby
I'd never want once from the cherry tree
'Cause my baby's sweet as can be
She give me toothaches just from kissin' me
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
Boys, when my baby found me
I was three days on a drunken sin
I woke with her walls around me
Nothin' in her room but an empty crib
And I was burnin' up a fever
I didn't care much how long I lived
But I swear I thought I dreamed her
She never asked me once about the wrong I did
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
My babe would never fret none
About what my hands and my body done
If the Lord don't forgive me
I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me
When I was kissing on my baby
And she put her love down soft and sweet
In the low lamplight I was free
Heaven and hell were words to me
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
Lyrics submitted by basser, edited by randy11242, teaspill, WunderWolfieHH, sedowney18
Work Song Lyrics as written by Andrew Hozier-byrne
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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This is a whole lot easier than you're making it, guys, especially if you know a little music history. Remember Hozier's background in traditional music--blues and folk songs? Work Song is . . . a work song, a traditional form. It's Hozier's take on the chants and songs used by slaves or prisoners, usually black, in the American South. Similar chants and songs were used by sailors, railroad workers and others who had to do physical labor as a team. The regular, pounding rhythm is the cadence used to keep everybody together as they break rocks on the chain gang, drive railroad stakes, chop cotton, heave anchors . . . whatever the task at hand. The heartbreaking lyrics speak of longing for the woman left behind, the one who loved him despite his crimes and sins, the one he expects to return to only in death, perhaps because his sentence is for life, perhaps because he is a slave or an impressed sailor or has been transported across the sea, the fate not only of African slaves but a good many Irish and Scots who were convicted of petty crimes and sent to the colonies because their English overlords wanted their land. This experience is one of the many places African and Celtic culture intersected to create blues, gospel, jazz, rock and roll and many other popular forms.