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.
What's he building in there?
What the hell is he building
In there?
He has subscriptions to those
Magazines... He never
Waves when he goes by
He's hiding something from
The rest of us... He's all
To himself... I think I know
Why... He took down the
Tire swing from the Peppertree
He has no children of his
Own you see... He has no dog
And he has no friends and
His lawn is dying... and
What about all those packages
He sends. What's he building in there?
With that hook light
On the stairs. What's he building
In there... I'll tell you one thing
He's not building a playhouse for
The children what's he building
In there?
Now what's that sound from under the door?
He's pounding nails into a
Hardwood floor... and I
Swear to god I heard someone
Moaning low... and I keep
Seeing the blue light of a
T.V. show...
He has a router
And a table saw... and you
Won't believe what Mr. Sticha saw
There's poison underneath the sink
Of course... But there's also
Enough formaldehyde to choke
A horse... What's he building
In there. What the hell is he
Building in there? I heard he
Has an ex-wife in some place
Called Mayors Income, Tennessee
And he used to have a
consulting business in Indonesia...
but what is he building in there?
What the hell is building in there?
He has no friends
But he gets a lot of mail
I'll bet he spent a little
Time in jail...
I heard he was up on the
Roof last night
Signaling with a flashlight
And what's that tune he's
Always whistling...
What's he building in there?
What's he building in there?
We have a right to know...
What the hell is he building
In there?
He has subscriptions to those
Magazines... He never
Waves when he goes by
He's hiding something from
The rest of us... He's all
To himself... I think I know
Why... He took down the
Tire swing from the Peppertree
He has no children of his
Own you see... He has no dog
And he has no friends and
His lawn is dying... and
What about all those packages
He sends. What's he building in there?
With that hook light
On the stairs. What's he building
In there... I'll tell you one thing
He's not building a playhouse for
The children what's he building
In there?
Now what's that sound from under the door?
He's pounding nails into a
Hardwood floor... and I
Swear to god I heard someone
Moaning low... and I keep
Seeing the blue light of a
T.V. show...
He has a router
And a table saw... and you
Won't believe what Mr. Sticha saw
There's poison underneath the sink
Of course... But there's also
Enough formaldehyde to choke
A horse... What's he building
In there. What the hell is he
Building in there? I heard he
Has an ex-wife in some place
Called Mayors Income, Tennessee
And he used to have a
consulting business in Indonesia...
but what is he building in there?
What the hell is building in there?
He has no friends
But he gets a lot of mail
I'll bet he spent a little
Time in jail...
I heard he was up on the
Roof last night
Signaling with a flashlight
And what's that tune he's
Always whistling...
What's he building in there?
What's he building in there?
We have a right to know...
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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Punchline
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
He's not building anything; that's the point of the song. Tom Waits is singing from the point of view of a representative of the paranoid townspeople who view this man with suspicion simply because he seems to be up to something. There is of course no proof for anything he might be up to as it's all in the heads of those around him, and the narration reveals the obsessive and invasive mindset of the suspicious townspeople rather than concentrating on the man who is supposedly building something.
The song was inspired by the Unabomber. Also features in the opening to the film "Enron The Smartest Guys in the Room" to great effect!
The scariest parts of this song to me are the venom that accompanies the words "I'll tell you one thing, He's not building a playhouse for the children...", as if implying the subject is some kind of child abuser, and the last line, "We have a right to know..." which sums up everything wrong with this track. I love it though!
well, for one, Tom usually sings.
this work is reminiscent of "Romeo Is Bleeding" and some of Waits' early work. Tom Waits is a profound fan of Beat Poetry, and would often embark on Beat excursions in his music.
his lyrics and reverence for jazz reflects his interest in the Beats outstandingly.
i recommend "Mule Variations" and "Bone Machine" as safe purchases for someone unsure about a foray into Tom Waits. both albums are some of his best and most recent work (except for the two just released this month!) and should give the listener an excellent idea of where Mr. Waits is coming from. enjoy!
I think Mule Variations must be one of the easiest of his album to get into, older stuff tends to be more to the more hardmelted side. One album i can recomment more than others is Swordfishtrombones. Mostly cause there are songs that are easy to melt early, but also an album that really grows with you. A golden trophy in my record collection. (though "Whats he building" is probably the most amusing work he has ever done in my opinion).
this is the only song ive heard of tom waits, whats the other stuff like?? comparisons and descriptions please
This is more one of his creepy-cool story-songs. Not so much a musical pursuit. He's a lot like Bowie in the sense that he's more of an artist who plays music, not a musician that is artistic. His music is very cool, but you've got to have an open mind, he's nothing near mainstream in his style. He likes a lot of strange percussion, horns and uses a rough voice most of the time. Almost all of his songs have GREAT lines and in general good lyrics. I'd recommend just going to youtube and typing in Tom Waits, checking out some of his stuff (the non-live stuff is easier to digest, FYI).
thank you
What do you think of the stuff on Rain Dogs with Keith Richards? I just recently got into it and I'm impressed.
i love this. i wish we actually found out what he was building, though
Don't you think it would wreck the song if we found out? Oh. He was building a shelving unit- how boring.
Tom Waits was at his best on his early albums (Closing Time, Small Change and Blue Valentine in particular) in my opinion and although his late albums are good, the best songs are always those remeniscent of his early stuff. Waits is at his best with a piano or an acoustic guitar, and in general his more experimental stuff isn't quite as good. The exceptions to this are Rain Doge and Mule Variations, which blend experimentation with old-fashioned ballads perfectly. This song brings back the humour of Waits' early works such as Mighthawks at the Diner and Small Change.