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.
If you want to open the hole
Just put your head down and go
Step beside the piece of the circumstance
Got to wash away the taste of evidence
Wash it away
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
Anything you say, we know you're guilty
Hands above your head, and you won't even feel me
You won't feel me
(Didn't feel a thing)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
Didn't feel a thing
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
Just put your head down and go
Step beside the piece of the circumstance
Got to wash away the taste of evidence
Wash it away
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
Anything you say, we know you're guilty
Hands above your head, and you won't even feel me
You won't feel me
(Didn't feel a thing)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
Didn't feel a thing
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
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i always thought that it was about adulterous sex
If you want to oped the hole. If you want to ell the truth, open your mouth and say it. Just put your head down and go. I won't forgive you, walk away.
It's more about cheating as far as I see it, a conversation between him and said partner. Not referring directly to sex in any manner but infidelity.
And then the shoes changing feet so to speak in the latter half of the song by him saying basically "good bye, now that I think about it you didn't mean a thing to me"
Pretty cut and dry in his style if you pay attention to what symbolism he uses often in his writings.
I am a big fan of his work.
If you want to open the hole Just put your head down and go
*Pretty much she opened the hole to their relationship's destruction. The 2nd line implies that he's thinking this while she's giving him a blow job.
Step beside the piece of the circumstance Got to wash away the taste of evidence
*Looks like she came to him after cheating and tried to have sex with him to cover up her cheating BUT he realized what she did, her betrayal, and decided to just let her blow him for what probably will be the one last time. Unfortunately that's really sad :(
Wash it away (evidence)
*Mostly self explanatory.
I didn't feel a thing It didn't mean a thing
*She tells him that she didn't feel a thing for the guy, and it didn't mean a thing. The sex she had. Unfortunately he doesn't believe it (you have to feel something for someone to have sex with them).
Look in the eye and testify: I didn't feel a thing
*She came clean, confessed. He's numb. This is a shock to him.
Anything you say, we know you're guilty Hands above your head, you won't even feel me
*He doesn't believe her, he's done with her. But she tries to have sex with him so he lets her do some foreplay (the blow job) but not full blown sex, and he's experiencing agony during this situation, even though he should be enjoying himself.
You won't feel me (evidence)
*In other words, he's done with her. His emotions are drained. He's gone out of her life. And he won't be having sex with her, even for one last time. To me, it sounds like he's heartbroken, it just seems like he loved her and was emotionally invested in her. Even though there aren't any lyrics that say that or even imply that, but the tone of the song implies that this brings him a heavy heart. But that's my opinion. Let me know what you guys think.
If you want to open the hole Just put your head down and go
*Pretty much she opened the hole to their relationship's destruction. The 2nd line implies that he's thinking this while she's giving him a blow job.
Step beside the piece of the circumstance Got to wash away the taste of evidence
*Looks like she came to him after cheating and tried to have sex with him to cover up her cheating BUT he realized what she did, her betrayal, and decided to just let her blow him for what probably will be the one last time. Unfortunately that's really sad :(
Wash it away (evidence)
*Mostly self explanatory.
I didn't feel a thing It didn't mean a thing
*She tells him that she didn't feel a thing for the guy, and it didn't mean a thing. The sex she had. Unfortunately he doesn't believe it (you have to feel something for someone to have sex with them).
Look in the eye and testify: I didn't feel a thing
*She came clean, confessed. He's numb. This is a shock to him.
Anything you say, we know you're guilty Hands above your head, you won't even feel me
*He doesn't believe her, he's done with her. But she tries to have sex with him so he lets her do some foreplay (the blow job) but not full blown sex, and he's experiencing agony during this situation, even though he should be enjoying himself.
You won't feel me (evidence)
*In other words, he's done with her. His emotions are drained. He's gone out of her life. And he won't be having sex with her, even for one last time. To me, it sounds like he's heartbroken, it just seems like he loved her and was emotionally invested in her. Even though there aren't any lyrics that say that or even imply that, but the tone of the song implies that this brings him a heavy heart. But that's my opinion. Let me know what you guys think.
i think maybe it could be his girlfriend has cheated on him and he knows, "If you want to open the hole Just put your head down and go" could mean as in creating a situation such as having cheated.. "Step beside the piece of circumstance Got to wash away the taste of evidence" maybe he's referring to her deceit, and her trying to cover it up. "I didn't feel a thing It didn't mean a thing" i always read this as if it was in quotation marks, his girlfriends speech rather than his own and "Look in the eye and testify;" As Patton again, and "I didn't feel a thing" as his girlfriend again. As if she's testifying her innocence to him.. When he says "Anything you say, we know you're guilty" he could be saying that he is the jury and already knows she's a cheat and a liar. "Hands above your head and you won't even feel me" he could be talking about when they're having sex, she both doesnt 'feel him' as in he's referring to her as 'loose', and that she doesnt care about him anymore.. poor thing.
I actually think this song isnt about either rape or oral sex but if i had to chose between the too i'ld probably say oral sex. But anyway i think this song's subject is pretty much the same as Cuckoo for Caca of the same album. It's about eating shit which apparetly Mike Patton was fond of. That's what i get from this song anyway could be wrng though.
I see elements of oral sex and/or rape, i'm not sure. Anyone have anything about what Mike Patton has said about the song?
it seems to me that this song is about a man who rapes a woman and then performs oral sex in order to remove what may be forensic evidence in the crime. seems kind of obvious to me......
She obviously cheated on him and he feels like she betrayed him. But she says that "It didn't mean a thing, and she didn't feel a thing."
But he can't shake the feeling that she's guilty and she's lying. And obviously she did feel something for the other guy since she let him inside her, both mentally and physically.
Also, I believe he's thinking all of this while she's performing oral on him, and even though he should be enjoying it, he's not. He's feeling distressed and betrayed by her. He knows it's over between her and him.
And at the when he says, "hands above your head, you won't even feel me." I think this is an eloquent way of saying that he thinks she's obviously full of shit and he's mocking her in a way. Like, here, blow me...I won't feel a thing. Right? It doesn't matter, right? No big deal right?
In other words. Sex is a very intimate thing to him and she didn't reciprocate that. So he's disappointed about that and in her in general. And then when he says "you won't feel me" that's a double edged sword where he finalizes his resolve about her cheating (AKA he won't change his mind) and he tells her goodbye at the same time. Or no final break up sex, she will just blow him and he's gone out of her life forever.
Such a good song, so many ways to interpret this. But this is what makes sense to me. I love how I can listen to this song and always find a new layer. This is true art.
it's about oral sex...