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.
Friends of mine don't have the time
For food or wine
Just money is on their minds
Life is sweet
On a one-way street
They're indiscreet
And funny, they'll never meet
I gotta get a two-ton truck [Repeat: x3]
I gotta do it to a duck on a two-ton truck and fade away like Ron Rene
All right, all right
You got the magical mystery tour [Repeat: x3
And Kurt is the Walrus [Repeat: x1]
And the Walrus does funny things to the veins in his left arm
All right
And Michael is now a father, all right
And Michael is now a proud father, all right
And my good friend Michael is now a proud father
And Michael is now a father, all right
And that means Michael's wife is a mother, all right
Up the 13 steps of the gallows walked the condemned man
And time passes very quickly when death is near
After having completed the first step, the condemned man knew there were but 12 left
Before he would meet death and his soul would leave his body
And after having completed the 13 steps the condemned man was met by a giant cloaked figure
And with a quick flick of the wrist the man was dead
And his soul left his body and went down down down
To a place we laughingly refer to as hell
But none of us will ever go there because we're all far too groovy
The man's body was left to rot on the gallows
And a great multitude of black birds came and picked the man's corpse apart
Piece by piece
Limb by limb
Until nothing remained
And his blood melted into the ground below
The gallows was made from a tree created by God
The man's blood dripped into the ground which was created by God
Even the giant cloaked figure which was the man's own end was created by God
Even the man's soul which went down was created by God
Even the black birds which picked the man's corpse apart were created by God
And where was God?
In Flanders Fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses row on row
To mark the dead
To Flanders Fields the hippies go
To smoke the poppies there below
And feed their heads
And they're all friends of mine, each and every one of them, no better or no worse
And we'll probably end up down there together when it's all over
And that's why we say
It's all over and it's all right.
For food or wine
Just money is on their minds
Life is sweet
On a one-way street
They're indiscreet
And funny, they'll never meet
I gotta get a two-ton truck [Repeat: x3]
I gotta do it to a duck on a two-ton truck and fade away like Ron Rene
All right, all right
You got the magical mystery tour [Repeat: x3
And Kurt is the Walrus [Repeat: x1]
And the Walrus does funny things to the veins in his left arm
All right
And Michael is now a father, all right
And Michael is now a proud father, all right
And my good friend Michael is now a proud father
And Michael is now a father, all right
And that means Michael's wife is a mother, all right
Up the 13 steps of the gallows walked the condemned man
And time passes very quickly when death is near
After having completed the first step, the condemned man knew there were but 12 left
Before he would meet death and his soul would leave his body
And after having completed the 13 steps the condemned man was met by a giant cloaked figure
And with a quick flick of the wrist the man was dead
And his soul left his body and went down down down
To a place we laughingly refer to as hell
But none of us will ever go there because we're all far too groovy
The man's body was left to rot on the gallows
And a great multitude of black birds came and picked the man's corpse apart
Piece by piece
Limb by limb
Until nothing remained
And his blood melted into the ground below
The gallows was made from a tree created by God
The man's blood dripped into the ground which was created by God
Even the giant cloaked figure which was the man's own end was created by God
Even the man's soul which went down was created by God
Even the black birds which picked the man's corpse apart were created by God
And where was God?
In Flanders Fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses row on row
To mark the dead
To Flanders Fields the hippies go
To smoke the poppies there below
And feed their heads
And they're all friends of mine, each and every one of them, no better or no worse
And we'll probably end up down there together when it's all over
And that's why we say
It's all over and it's all right.
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