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.
Lost inside the system, locked away without a key
No one will ever miss a menace to society
A gross lack of potential, bad decisions made in spite
A touchy hairpin trigger and such a wasted life
Trying to break the mold of a broken family
Fight against your failure, and living on his knees
Guilty of a crime of nonconformity
A hanging judge and jury handing down the penalty
A lethal injection, now they watch the body jerk
Exterminate the problem, except it didn't work
No vital sign of life, they declared it wasn't there
Coroner never checked, because he didn't fucking care
Passing off the body, they all believe he died
Starting up the hearse, now for a final drive
Like whistling past a graveyard, when walking by at night
It's a fatal illusion to think that evil never dies
In a darkened mortuary, reeking of formaldehyde
Aroused from deadly slumber, something opened up his eyes
Spilling all their blood was a promise that he'd keep
Hate so strong revived him from a deep necrotic sleep
Clawing away the casket lid until his fingers bleed
He grabbed a knife and set out on a vivisection spree
A butcher, hell bent, massacring each one with his blade
From the first one to the last, he dispatched them to the grave
It's a fatal illusion
It's a fatal illusion
Evil never dies
It never dies
No one will ever miss a menace to society
A gross lack of potential, bad decisions made in spite
A touchy hairpin trigger and such a wasted life
Trying to break the mold of a broken family
Fight against your failure, and living on his knees
Guilty of a crime of nonconformity
A hanging judge and jury handing down the penalty
A lethal injection, now they watch the body jerk
Exterminate the problem, except it didn't work
No vital sign of life, they declared it wasn't there
Coroner never checked, because he didn't fucking care
Passing off the body, they all believe he died
Starting up the hearse, now for a final drive
Like whistling past a graveyard, when walking by at night
It's a fatal illusion to think that evil never dies
In a darkened mortuary, reeking of formaldehyde
Aroused from deadly slumber, something opened up his eyes
Spilling all their blood was a promise that he'd keep
Hate so strong revived him from a deep necrotic sleep
Clawing away the casket lid until his fingers bleed
He grabbed a knife and set out on a vivisection spree
A butcher, hell bent, massacring each one with his blade
From the first one to the last, he dispatched them to the grave
It's a fatal illusion
It's a fatal illusion
Evil never dies
It never dies
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Fatal Illusion Lyrics as written by Dave Mustaine
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I'm curious to find out if this is based on a story/ comic/ film/ book etc... It sounds like it could be loosely based on the Halloween films.
The first half of the song I felt like it was a symbolic story. It sounded like Dave was referring to a guy thrown in jail (for essentially some dumb mistakes.) The character is just branded as a troublemaker and thus society says that jail is where he belongs. (revealing corruption in society) Next verse suggest that there is more to this criminal's story- that he's tried to get over injustices and tried to break the mould of his roots (i.e. his broken family that he's tried to 'not conform' to). Following that, the line 'it didn't work', that evil isn't a person, it's an innate part of who we are as people- that we often end up taking short cuts, doing underhanded things, being greedy or selfish... That even though the criminal has been killed, evil is still alive and well in the world.
The last verse promptly shoots my original thoughts down pretty quickly! Yep, he was a murderer and (now and undead) psychopath! Sheesh!