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.
In the shelter
In the morning as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, I can't go back home"
Lonely princess, all the days out on your own
Are growing empty
Nothin' is goin' well
If you could only tell them how you feel
They're too real to understand
Too many small suggestions
Ending in forced repressions long ago
Too many innocent faces
In too many far out places, something's wrong
Let me tell you that something's wrong
It's been that way so long, and it's a shame
On the street car
To the city were she knows that she may lose it all
Riding for just a dime, takin' her own sweet time
And knowing well this could be her final fall
Past the boutique, to the alley down the river
People pass her by
She sits on the big gray rocks, takes off her boots and socks
Not knowing what she will do next
Just starts to cry
To many wild rejections
Ending in angry questions from her dad
To many TV dinners
Ah, everyone loves a winner
But she has lost
No ones knows the trials she had
In the shelter
In the morning as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, but I can't go back home
Hell, I just don't know, but I can't go back home"
In the morning as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, I can't go back home"
Lonely princess, all the days out on your own
Are growing empty
Nothin' is goin' well
If you could only tell them how you feel
They're too real to understand
Too many small suggestions
Ending in forced repressions long ago
Too many innocent faces
In too many far out places, something's wrong
Let me tell you that something's wrong
It's been that way so long, and it's a shame
On the street car
To the city were she knows that she may lose it all
Riding for just a dime, takin' her own sweet time
And knowing well this could be her final fall
Past the boutique, to the alley down the river
People pass her by
She sits on the big gray rocks, takes off her boots and socks
Not knowing what she will do next
Just starts to cry
To many wild rejections
Ending in angry questions from her dad
To many TV dinners
Ah, everyone loves a winner
But she has lost
No ones knows the trials she had
In the shelter
In the morning as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, but I can't go back home
Hell, I just don't know, but I can't go back home"
Lyrics submitted by EnjOy IncUbus
In the Shelter Lyrics as written by Jimmy Buffett
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I have always enjoyed Jimmy Buffett as a poet and entertainer but finally realized his amazing his genius when I read the original lyrics to this song.
I grew up with the "Changes " version where he sings "..sits on the big grey rocks, takes off her boots and socks, NOT knowing what she will do next just starts to cry...". I can envison the big grey rocks down by the river on the Moonwalk in New Orleans and see someone who has had a rough upbringing going to live in the Quarter and trying to sort things out on one of many bad days by going to relax by the river.
When I read the original lyric "... sits on the big grey rocks, takes off her boots and socks AND knowing what she will do next just starts to cry..." This is someone who has run away from many bad things and can find no hope so she intends to end it there in the Mississippi. She is beyond hope and we suddenly understand the severity of what she's been through.
A single word changes the utlimate temper and meaning of this song. I would love to know more about his inspiration for this song.
@ChipCMD - Thank you! I owned both versions, but had learned the lyrics first from Changes in Lat. I later got High Cumberland, but whenever the older song played I heard "NOT knowing...". The lyrics from the newer version were so burned into my head I just didn't hear it. <br /> <br /> Fast forward 35 years, I go and listen to the older version for the first time in at least a decade -- the word "AND" pops out, and repaints my entire image of this song. I thought I was going insane. <br /> <br /> IMO, this is the most inspired, poetic and artistic song he has ever written. It doesn't surprise me that as his fame rose, and he became Mr. Goodtime Partyman he changed the lyrics to be less fatalist. <br /> <br /> I love the magic in that one-word change. One is a hard struggle you might win, the other is one you lose. Powerful.