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.
I spent a lot of my time looking at blue
The color of my room and my mood
Blue on the walls, blue out of my mouth
The sort of blue between clouds when the sun comes out
The sort of blue in those eyes you get hung up about
When that feeling of meaninglessness sets in
Go blowing my mind on God
The light in the dark, with the neon arms
The meek He seeks, the beast He calms
The head of the good soul department
I see myself suddenly
On the piano, as a melody
My terrible fear of dying
No longer plays with me
For now I know, that I'm needed
For the symphony
I associate love with red
The color of my heart when she's dead
Red in my mind when the jealousy flies
Red in my eyes from emotional ties
Manipulation, the danger signs
The more I think about sex, the better it gets
Here we have a purpose in life
Good for the blood circulation
Good for releasing the tension
The root of our reincarnations
I see myself suddenly
On the piano, as a melody
My terrible fear of dying
No longer plays with me
For now I know that I'm needed
For the symphony
I spent a lot of my time looking at blue
No wonder that I blew it
The color of my room and my mood
Blue on the walls, blue out of my mouth
The sort of blue between clouds when the sun comes out
The sort of blue in those eyes you get hung up about
When that feeling of meaninglessness sets in
Go blowing my mind on God
The light in the dark, with the neon arms
The meek He seeks, the beast He calms
The head of the good soul department
I see myself suddenly
On the piano, as a melody
My terrible fear of dying
No longer plays with me
For now I know, that I'm needed
For the symphony
I associate love with red
The color of my heart when she's dead
Red in my mind when the jealousy flies
Red in my eyes from emotional ties
Manipulation, the danger signs
The more I think about sex, the better it gets
Here we have a purpose in life
Good for the blood circulation
Good for releasing the tension
The root of our reincarnations
I see myself suddenly
On the piano, as a melody
My terrible fear of dying
No longer plays with me
For now I know that I'm needed
For the symphony
I spent a lot of my time looking at blue
No wonder that I blew it
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Symphony in Blue Lyrics as written by Kate Bush
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Dreamwalker
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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.
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Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Plastic Bag
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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.
I think it's about broader philosophy, breakthrough moments in her thinking. Like "Them Heavy People" but more sensual.
"I see myself suddenly On the piano, as a melody. My terrible fear of dying No longer plays with me, for now I know that I'm needed For the symphony."
She can see herself outside of her physical being. I think the symphony here is the greater run of the world, she can see herself as a part of that for the first time. She has a purpose and that's taking away her fear of dying. I can totally relate to these revelations in thinking as a young person, it can be so exciting and Kate perfectly captures that here. Kate forever!
This is my favourite Kate Bush song. I'm not sure of the meaning, but I know blue to be a serene colour... I don't know if that's anything to do with it; and the allusions to red and danger&death.
Corrections; "My ternble tèar of dying" should be "My terrible fear of dying."
I -love- this song so much, it's one of my favourites. I've always thought it was about a young girl falling in and out of love, trying to find a meaning in life. She realizes that God and experiencing pleasure/joy are really what makes life worth living, and even though we may be just a tiny tiny TINY thing in the universe, we are still PART of the universe, and that's what matters.
"Life is a lot of grey and a little bit of blue..."
A song about 'Love, Sex, Death, and the Meaning of Life' ... Introspection and wonder ... Virginal teenage blues, the Juliet crush, the determined optimism... The intense, vibrant excitement of the Life Force! ... Love is red, passionate, too hot, too emotional... It has the danger to kill the heart and warp the intellect! ... Eros Vs Thanatos! ... There's a lot of playful humour in this song... How intellectual pursuit can lead to sex in the city (or library!) and excessive pot-smoking! ... The chorus finds an expanded sense to it all... Reason conquers fears, belonging defeats nightmares... the Great tapestry of the universe...
"...I spent a lot of my time looking at blue No wonder that I blew it!"
I think this is about loneliness and being a teenager isolated, thinking about religion and the emotions you experience. This is how I think about it anyway.
Kate Bush has a terrible fear or flying and death. This song sounds like pondering on a personal religous experiance. The meaning of it all and what does it really mean? Music is the only thing that quells all of her fears in life.
Death is about change, and everyone is scared of changes, it does not mean that changes are bad. <br /> Death to many is a scary thing, because death to many is a black hole, or the end. It used to make me feel sad when people had this sad thought of death and lack of vision and hope. Now, it makes me smile, because everyone has to make their own experiences in life and the choices we make, will either continue to blind us from seeing the things that are around us, or will make the veil thinner and enable our spiritual mind/ eyes to see. It is that simple.
I was a teenager when I first listened to this song. It swept me off my feet and wrapped me in cotton wool. It still does today. Kate you're music is and always will be amazing.