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.
Kept warm by the light of the lantern
Lost sight of everything tonight
My presence blackens their pattern
A pock in the healthy and calm
Their scorn behind your back
My promise would put them down
No trace of reverence left
Immemorial fire in their eyes
I would perish at the given signal
At the slightest touch from my soul
Tainted prophet in flesh
For all the plagued and lost
Dripping sin
Decision in stalemate
Dare to feel death at hand
Surprised me with its voice
Through the forest came the morn
Across the leafy pathway
Their deeds smeared in blood
For all to behold
The council of the cross
Must have sensed my coming
The pest through the air
With despise for squalor
Lashing out at the poor
I turned away my eyes
In pallor escape from the end
Fading time to leave from here
And less to fulfill my task
She would be safe and firm
Nothing of this is in vain
Taken away from stifling grace
And saved from the past
Lost sight of everything tonight
My presence blackens their pattern
A pock in the healthy and calm
Their scorn behind your back
My promise would put them down
No trace of reverence left
Immemorial fire in their eyes
I would perish at the given signal
At the slightest touch from my soul
Tainted prophet in flesh
For all the plagued and lost
Dripping sin
Decision in stalemate
Dare to feel death at hand
Surprised me with its voice
Through the forest came the morn
Across the leafy pathway
Their deeds smeared in blood
For all to behold
The council of the cross
Must have sensed my coming
The pest through the air
With despise for squalor
Lashing out at the poor
I turned away my eyes
In pallor escape from the end
Fading time to leave from here
And less to fulfill my task
She would be safe and firm
Nothing of this is in vain
Taken away from stifling grace
And saved from the past
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"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.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
For some of you idiots who have no clue about what this song and the entire Still Life album is about, this is for you:
The character isn't black, or a Muslim, he is an atheist. In this song he's talking about the "Council of the Cross", or the Christian government and how if they find out he returned to where he was banished they'll kill him. But he doesn't care. He's careful not to get caught, but he won't go away until he gets Melinda back.
"Moonlapse Vertigo" is a reminder that the people of the town would kill him if they realized he was there. The song references the Council of the Cross, referring to the Christian government, who openly show scorn for the disgraced and the poor. He realizes that he has no time left to flee from the country and decides to meet Melinda at last and lead her out of the country with him. In this song the outcast really shows his immense hate towards the Council.
the whole cd is a concept album, it shouldnt be hard to figure out the meaning. although the way mikael writes most of his lyrics - THEIR WILL BE MANY MEANINGS! he is a poetic genius!
"...had been banished 16 years ago..."
*15 years ago, sorry >_>
"The sigh of summer upon my return Fifteen alike since I was here"
This is the best song I think Opeth ever did. It has a good balance of smooth mellow rock and death metal in it. Last part of the song is really catchy, I suggest everyone that hasn't heard Opeth before listen to this song.
As for the meaning, I'm not really sure, about somebody running from something I think.
Yeah, this song is ONE of their best, but not their BEST. I still suggest that all Opeth fans look into this song.
monlapse vertigo, he is not talking about a relationship between a slave and a white woman, hes the fucking demon of the fall. he is death. My Arms, Your Hearse? didnt that ring a bell? his presence blackens all around him. and in this case, keeping with the theme of the saga he has unfolded, moor means a broad area of open land, often high but poorly drained, with patches of heath and peat bogs. this kind of area is perfect for setting the mood of darkness and despair that he obviously feels because he cannot be with Melinda, his true love. people arent predjudiced against him because he is black...HE IS DEATH, THE DEMON OF THE FALL.
harlequin forest, this album is called 'still life'. demon of the fall is from 'my arms, your hearse'. they are two different albums with two completely different stories.
the first track's title refers to a swampy marshland where the main character was banished to fifteen years prior the start of the story.
read my comment on 'the moor'. the main character isn't a black muslim or anything like that, you guys are looking way to into the few mentions of 'white' things. there's no concrete evidence for racial persecution, but there's a boatload for religious persecution. in all likelihood, the main character was probably born deformed and thus branded an "ungodly freak".
You have a good view on this album returnsandexchanges. And yes, i agree with you fully. Just because they mention "White" or "Black" anything like that doesn't mean they are Black. That's just a shallow statement saying - "It's about blacks and whites"
Could somebody please explain the meaning of the song title?