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.
featuring King Tee
King Tee:
Now let me introduce whose first
The nigga that's been down
with the set since birth
Whatever it was worth
I checked in on the norm
Since a juvenile callin'
Shots in the dorm
Moms said you better get right
Or shake the spot
I chose to break and be a rollin' stone
Like pop
Stashin' the rocks by the gats
With the Gs
So I can talk crazy when the narks yell freeze!
I don't fight the feelin'
Gotta hustle with a passion
Comin' cross state to put you down
With some action
In actuallity I keeps it real in the streets
Remininsin' younger days
Over gangsa ass beats
And I,
Hit the weed
Til myeye balls bleed
While my life is corrupted
By lust and greed
Serve you anything from cocaine
Up to speed
I came with the drank
So here's five on the weed
Xzibit:
See kids don't belong
Up in grown folks business
The Likwit niggas rollin' through with a thickness
Sickness bear witness
Like tequlla without a chaser
It burns going down
Niggas guaranteed to drown
Legendary sound
From the west coast underground
The mighty King Tee
And Mr. X to the Z, see
Never underestimate the power
Of the X man
Dismantle your plans
Or just catch you with a back hand
Xzbit bring it to you live
With the know how
Cool in a gang
And ain't about to change
My lifestyle
Catchin' bodies in this uphill battle
But Xzibit unravel
Have smoke will travel
I bust Teflon rhymes
Into the crowd, bitch
You anin't Steve Rif
So stop trying to get Loud
You need to pump your brakes to avoid the collision
Xzibit still winnin'
Unanimous decisions
King Tee:
It's going down
Once again everybody lay down
Run your money and the jewels
To the front without a sound
The infamous supreme King Tee
Glad to meet ya
Derranged in the mothafuckin' brain
Through ya speaka and hey
I walk around the hood lookin' looped
Strapped like a mothafuckin'
Desert strom troop
Niggas be like "King Tila
How you get that Benz?"
By sending birds to Oklahoma City
To my friends
I slang my gangsta funk
Through the night
Sometimes I fight
Like I'm the ghost of Eric Wright
Compton is where I dwell
It's like hell
Slangin' the shit that got the smokers
In a spell
And all my homies live lives
Like crooks
Rich and infamous
Hoes want to look but get shook
Cause we don't trust you hoes
You'll have a nigga fucked up
With a bullet through his clothes
Positively nothings positive
Negativity positively how we live
Positively nothings positive
Negativity positively how we live
Xzibit:
Ladies and gentlemen
Undivided attention
Xzibit get you open like Nicole Brown Simpson
It's the...
Most dangerous things next to grizzles
Unsolved mysteries
Xzibit hit you penetentary style
Quick sharp and straight to the neck
I'm heavy on your chest
I'm all up in your life
Like stress
The coast that resides to your left
Whre niggas perpitrate
And catch a fate worse than death
And like Cyanide I'm hard to detect
Got more desighns and stragiht lines
Than an architect
King Tee chapter four
Verse seven reads
Xzibit shall come and break down humanity
Niggas lose ther're sanity
Trying to handle me
Dysfunctional member of the Alkaholik family
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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.
Album: At The Speed Of Life (1996)