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.
Wicker wishes hold the flames at bay
No water for the martyr,
Oh, what a shame
Progress is a riddle of delays
Serendipitously, arranged
Watch the embers wither into grey, and the filament fade
Oh, and the filament
It is the cause for causing choruses
To erupt, in front of stages in the dark
It is the cure between the words and what we thought we heard as such
Cleverness and sleight of tongue
Ordinarily we'd find a better fit, and organize the message's intent
With words and scenes, insinuations
Emotional manipulation throughout
For no good reason, I'd deceive you all
Just to get the point across...
I've been a hypocrite.
And, I'm certain I have lied.
I've been to nothingness, and
Barely bothered to survive.
I laughed when your levee broke, to
Shed tears when nobody rose to say:
'It's just a ride...'
Wearing the weight of the words we never spoke of
Turning the weathered side to read their bones
The trap that was set was flawed at best
The trap that was set was flawed
Programmed to make ghosts of all of us
Oh, time
Gathering us with open arms,
To feed these hungry birds of war.
Splitting the line, between two sides
But I am neither one. . .
Usher the windblown into the silos, dead
Treated like cattle while we listen for what's next
Secretly, we'll take it's pulse
Dropping from the eaves
Tourniquet the pace as the rhythm bleeds
Oh, time
Flattering us to see ourselves, as something more than we define
Where does it leave us when we cry?
It's not any skin of mine
Only locked in these days as our wonder dissipates
How did we wait so long to call... out?
Hello?
Don't you know we know you know?
Don't you know?
You were brave
With a free-talking mind,
And a voice that is still a cry for life,
And no matter what we want,
We want to be loved...
Yes! we were here,
We were afraid,
We paid them for the right to commit our own, ego suicide
But I believe it's just a ride...
No water for the martyr,
Oh, what a shame
Progress is a riddle of delays
Serendipitously, arranged
Watch the embers wither into grey, and the filament fade
Oh, and the filament
It is the cause for causing choruses
To erupt, in front of stages in the dark
It is the cure between the words and what we thought we heard as such
Cleverness and sleight of tongue
Ordinarily we'd find a better fit, and organize the message's intent
With words and scenes, insinuations
Emotional manipulation throughout
For no good reason, I'd deceive you all
Just to get the point across...
I've been a hypocrite.
And, I'm certain I have lied.
I've been to nothingness, and
Barely bothered to survive.
I laughed when your levee broke, to
Shed tears when nobody rose to say:
'It's just a ride...'
Wearing the weight of the words we never spoke of
Turning the weathered side to read their bones
The trap that was set was flawed at best
The trap that was set was flawed
Programmed to make ghosts of all of us
Oh, time
Gathering us with open arms,
To feed these hungry birds of war.
Splitting the line, between two sides
But I am neither one. . .
Usher the windblown into the silos, dead
Treated like cattle while we listen for what's next
Secretly, we'll take it's pulse
Dropping from the eaves
Tourniquet the pace as the rhythm bleeds
Oh, time
Flattering us to see ourselves, as something more than we define
Where does it leave us when we cry?
It's not any skin of mine
Only locked in these days as our wonder dissipates
How did we wait so long to call... out?
Hello?
Don't you know we know you know?
Don't you know?
You were brave
With a free-talking mind,
And a voice that is still a cry for life,
And no matter what we want,
We want to be loved...
Yes! we were here,
We were afraid,
We paid them for the right to commit our own, ego suicide
But I believe it's just a ride...
Lyrics submitted by discrepancy
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