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.
Did you sweep us far from your feet?
Reset in stone this stark belief?
Salted eyes and a sordid dye
Too many years
But don't despair, this day will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Did you feed us tales of deceit?
Conceal the tongues who need to speak?
Subtle lies and a soiled coin
The truth is sold, the deal is done
But don't despair, this day will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Undefined, no signs of regret
Your swollen pride assumes respect
Talons fly as a last disguise
But no return, the time has come
So don't despair, this day will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Reset in stone this stark belief?
Salted eyes and a sordid dye
Too many years
But don't despair, this day will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Did you feed us tales of deceit?
Conceal the tongues who need to speak?
Subtle lies and a soiled coin
The truth is sold, the deal is done
But don't despair, this day will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Undefined, no signs of regret
Your swollen pride assumes respect
Talons fly as a last disguise
But no return, the time has come
So don't despair, this day will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Ooh, if you take these things from me
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
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Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
I believe that "these things" are guns. I think this is a more figurative dialogue between the (silent, reluctant) cowboy/gunfighter and one of the townspeople soliciting his help.
I'm taking a History class right now titled "History of the American West," and I do think it's a political song. Cowboys are part of the myth of the West as a place to be conquered--its indigenous peoples, its arid geography (deserts, great plains), its animals even (buffalo and the now-extinct passenger pigeon). Cowboys are the conquerors in this myth, and represent stoic, strong masculinity. (Women in the myth of the west have predominantly played the role of damsel in distress, with Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley being notable exceptions.) America, while supposedly founded on the ideals of democracy and freedom, has historically been exploitative and oppressive towards minorities: women, Blacks, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and Mexicans. I won't give you a full history lesson here, but you can google these minorities along with something like "history of oppression in America," and you will find overwhelming evidence.
Back to the song, it's hard to tell who the speaker is. Could be an oppressed minority speaking to the conquerors, the "cowboys," i.e. the American government.
Who do people call "cowboys" globally? What do cowboys symbolize? Yeah, I think this song is kinda anti-American too.
I honestly think she's pissed off with a shoddy workman.
i love this song is all
propaganda of polititions roman empire such and such
I'm with you Niam.. I love this song, too!
Obviously quite a bitter song, and one of the best on the second album. Political? I'm not quite sure - the "Talons fly as a last resort" is hardly something a Politician does. I think it's aimed on a personal level at someone who's lied continually about who they are and made sure the truth never comes out by shouting their detractors down. The song has an overall air of defiance about it tho, which is great.
Well, the line is "talons fly as a last disguise". Talons could represent the American eagle and that after more covert means and propaganda fail, it's time to go to war. Way to much emphasis on 9/11 in this thread: governments have and always will lie; the point of democracy being to blunt the potency of such threats to good governance. <br /> <br /> With all of that said, it is a great song and does sound like it's about a victim lashing out and taking a day of reckoning against a tormentor, but I am not certain that it is necessarily political in meaning. Why couldn't it be about children taking vengeance against really bad parents for example?
Well, the line is "talons fly as a last disguise". Talons could represent the American eagle and that after more covert means and propaganda fail, it's time to go to war. Way to much emphasis on 9/11 in this thread: governments have and always will lie; the point of democracy being to blunt the potency of such threats to good governance. <br /> <br /> With all of that said, it is a great song and does sound like it's about a victim lashing out and taking a day of reckoning against a tormentor, but I am not certain that it is necessarily political in meaning. Why couldn't it be about children taking vengeance against abusive parents for example?
Well, the line is "talons fly as a last disguise". Talons could represent the American eagle and that after more covert means and propaganda fail, it's time to go to war. Way to much emphasis on 9/11 in this thread: governments have and always will lie; the point of democracy being to blunt the potency of such threats to good governance. <br /> <br /> With all of that said, it is a great song and does sound like it's about a victim lashing out and taking a day of reckoning against a tormentor, but I am not certain that it is necessarily political in meaning. Why couldn't it be about children taking vengeance against abusive parents for example?
Well, the line is "talons fly as a last disguise". Talons could represent the American eagle and that after more covert means and propaganda fail, it's time to go to war. Way to much emphasis on 9/11 in this thread: governments have and always will lie; the point of democracy being to blunt the potency of such threats to good governance. <br /> <br /> With all of that said, it is a great song and does sound like it's about a victim lashing out and taking a day of reckoning against a tormentor, but I am not certain that it is necessarily political in meaning. Why couldn't it be about children taking vengeance against abusive parents for example?
Re: xdvr's post: I think this song is definitely political. Part of the greatness of phead is that the song is certainly not just political, but the political allusions to me are pretty clear: "soiled coin" can be related to the the "sordid" money that fuels much of the political arena, from lobbying to campaign contribution. Also, being a U.S. citizen, the "talons" remind me of the popular American icon of the bald eagle. Compare Toby Keith's lines of a song that alludes to George "coWboy" Bush and the U.S. response to 9/11:
Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list And the Statue of Liberty Started shakin’ her fist And the eagle will fly Man, it’s gonna be hell When you hear Mother Freedom Start ringin’ her bell And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue
... to say nothing of the song's grim prescience regarding the current situation in Iraq in the line "Did you feed us tales of deceit"...
well it can't be about 9/11 because this album came out in 1997.
But it's definitely about politics. "Did you feed us tales of deceit?" "Conceal the tounges who need to speak." "Your swollen pride assumes respect."
Sounds like a politician to me.