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.
Well, morning came
And it dressed the sky in a lovely yellow gown
Now the shops they are all opening
In that narrow hallway of downtown
Filled with people who are shopping for
Their lovers and their friends
Saying they won't ever be lonely again
Well, the forest fenced becomes backyards
Like songs are born from sound
And the apple fell and it taught us all
We are chained here to the ground
So, I mean, here we go but there ain't no escape
No, these streets, they're just dead ends
So I won't ever be happy again
Well, it seems you, too, see a painful blue
When you stare into the sky
You could never understand
The motion of a hand waving you goodbye, bye-bye
But as the story goes or it is often told
A new day will arise
And all the dance halls will be full of the skeletons
That are coming back to life
And on a grassy hill
The lion will lay down with the lamb
And I won't ever be lonely again, no, no, no, no, no
But until that time
I think I'd better find some disbelief to suspend
'Cause I don't want to feel like this again
And it dressed the sky in a lovely yellow gown
Now the shops they are all opening
In that narrow hallway of downtown
Filled with people who are shopping for
Their lovers and their friends
Saying they won't ever be lonely again
Well, the forest fenced becomes backyards
Like songs are born from sound
And the apple fell and it taught us all
We are chained here to the ground
So, I mean, here we go but there ain't no escape
No, these streets, they're just dead ends
So I won't ever be happy again
Well, it seems you, too, see a painful blue
When you stare into the sky
You could never understand
The motion of a hand waving you goodbye, bye-bye
But as the story goes or it is often told
A new day will arise
And all the dance halls will be full of the skeletons
That are coming back to life
And on a grassy hill
The lion will lay down with the lamb
And I won't ever be lonely again, no, no, no, no, no
But until that time
I think I'd better find some disbelief to suspend
'Cause I don't want to feel like this again
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by pixelcreme
I Won't Ever Be Happy Again [Companion Version] Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
doesn't anyone know what this song means? all of you just pick random lines and, blah blah. sheeeet.
Bro I think I can explain what the song means, but it's just an interpretation. Imma try to answer this shit legit tho my dude: The first half of the song, up until the point where Conor Oberst first says, "so I won't ever be happy again," I believe he is discussing the turmoils of living in society because living in a society where "I won't ever be lonely again" requires you to constantly be there to support your "lovers and friends," and this implies being, what one would call, "happy." The remainder of this section deals with the facts of life. There are many facts of life, and one of them is that you will not always be happy, which Oberst is often not. Oberst goes further to emphasize the sadness in this song, aside from establishing a slow melody, displaying an obviously tragic title, and utilizing the overall tone of voice that he does, by discussing facts of life that shove our true limitations in our faces. Bright Eyes capitalizes on this section of the song as a whole by, I'm sorry I really don't know the musical terms, but building the melody or, as you would say, building the beat for a hip-hop song (starts at line 8: "Now a forest fenced becomes backyards" this statement of course meaning that everything around us is simply taken from the beautiful earth and now we generally destroy it and use it for crude purposes, i.e. corporations taking down forrests, endagering animals by way of conducting work with dangerous materials, etc.). Notice "So, I mean, here we go, but there ain't no escape \ These streets are just dead ends," stating that one may not simply "leave society," you are a part of it forever unless you actually do leave society as a whole. This raises the point that in order to survive, many people in the modern world do require, or at least would prefer the benefits of, today's society because it helps them acquire everything they need for living in addition to extra commodities as well. Of course, this is still all just my interpretation so it could not only be applied to society, but life entirely as a whole, especially considering his focus on the limitations of people in real life. I do not know much of Mister Oberst's past, therefore I do not know of the particular reasons why he may seem so emotionally distraught.
The next few lines (15-19 on this site), Oberst references a "you" so as to, if nothing else, imply that he is conversing with another being. As a consolation to this being, after simply stating that life is basically all shit, he states, "But as the story goes, or it is often told \ A new day will arise." and the things that follow this statement are all inevitabilities. Skeletons will come to life and dance, a lion will betray his nature and lie down with a lamb (generally inevitable if in the wild at least), and finally, as Mister Oberst puts it, "I won't ever be lonely again," being the final inevitability to be listed. This is a list of things that will not happen, not in his opinion anyway, therefore he continues, and he feels terribly sorrow, and he would never like to feel this way again.
To be completely honest, this song means that life is fucking stupid a lot of the time, and depending on who you are, it could be fucking terrible every single day of your life, but damn any man who does not become emblazened with appreciation when he looks up into the sky and sees it dressed in a "lovely yellow gown."
"And an apple fell and it taught us all we are chained here to the ground." What a great song. Just about feeling lost. This song is so identifiable to me. So wonderful. Connor is a genius. There's no denieing that. "And on a grassy hill the lion will lay down with the lamb and I won't ever be lonely again. But until that time I think I had better find some disbelief to suspend, because I don't want to feel like this again."
GAH! I love this song. Connor is my god..
(only one n in conor) and i adore him. i would give a limb to see him live. this song is brilliant, ever single lyric this man writes is amazing, i adore conor oberst. "And an Apple fell and it taught us all we are chained here to the ground" that line is perfect.
i downloaded this song and it was some chick...bah. can't seem to find the real version of this song.
i downloaded this song and it was some chick...bah. can't seem to find the real version of this song.
this song is pure genius.. like bright eyed girl said, every single lyric he writes is amazing. I absolutely love this song, it's one of my favorite BE songs. I love the first line: "Well morning came and it dressed the sky in a lovely, yellow gown.."
In the song "The Movement Of A Hand" it says, "Soon all the joy that pours from everything makes fountains of your eyes because you finally understand the movement of a hand waving you good-bye." I really like the connections you can draw between certain songs and thereby widen their meaning.
I have this song too (downloaded it) but what album is it on?? I feel like a BE n00b asking ...