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.
The woman in blue, she's asking for revenge
The man in white -- that's you -- says he has no friends
The river is swollen up with rusty cans
And the trees are burning in your promised land
And there are no letters in the mailbox
And there are no grapes upon the vine
And there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in the mine
Well, you tell me that your lover has a broken limb
You say you're kind of restless now and it's on account of him
Well, I saw the man in question, it was just the other night
He was eating up a lady where the lions and Christians fight
And there are no letters in the mailbox
And there are no grapes upon the vine
And there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in the mine
(You tell them now)
Ah, there is no comfort in the covens of the witch
Some very clever doctor went and sterilized the bitch
And the only man of energy, yes the revolution's pride
He trained a hundred women just to kill an unborn child
And there are no letters in the mailbox
Oh no, there are no, no grapes upon your vine
And there are, there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in your mine
And there are no letters in the mailbox
And there are no grapes upon the vine
And there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in your mine
The man in white -- that's you -- says he has no friends
The river is swollen up with rusty cans
And the trees are burning in your promised land
And there are no letters in the mailbox
And there are no grapes upon the vine
And there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in the mine
Well, you tell me that your lover has a broken limb
You say you're kind of restless now and it's on account of him
Well, I saw the man in question, it was just the other night
He was eating up a lady where the lions and Christians fight
And there are no letters in the mailbox
And there are no grapes upon the vine
And there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in the mine
(You tell them now)
Ah, there is no comfort in the covens of the witch
Some very clever doctor went and sterilized the bitch
And the only man of energy, yes the revolution's pride
He trained a hundred women just to kill an unborn child
And there are no letters in the mailbox
Oh no, there are no, no grapes upon your vine
And there are, there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in your mine
And there are no letters in the mailbox
And there are no grapes upon the vine
And there are no chocolates in your boxes anymore
And there are no diamonds in your mine
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Plastic Bag
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“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.
This is a bleak song sang as an insanely peppy folk tune.
The gist of the song is that life is empty now and there is nothing special (no diamonds in the mine, no chocolates in the boxes)
No refuge in the coven of the witch.. sterilized the bitch (2nd best line) There is no comfort in religion a doctor(scientist) sterilized it of any truth or meaning.
As for the Lover with a broken limb. She worked hard to take care of him, but he cheated on her. "Eating up a lady where the lions and Christians fight" (best line) Eating up a lady where her passions meet her morals (her genitals) The lions of passion fight the Christian morals of celibacy. (he uses sex and religion a lot)
Man of energy... The man who was supposed to save the world is wasted. (miraculously intelligent people (doctors)waste their talents on abortion, Viagra, and other things that are products of a modern moral-less society.
I hope my deciphering of the last musical poet was helpful.
the first poster says the chorus is clear enough, so maybe s/he gets it, but this song isn't simply about life being empty.<br /> <br /> as far as i can tell, this song is specifically about a woman after her prime. nobody's sending her letters, nobody's buying her wine, nobody's giving her chocolates, and nobody's "mining for diamonds" in her vagina. it's basically the bitterest song ever, and i love it.
@Winters Trite and Obvious. Bear in mind, "SOL&H" is a mirrored album, the songs on side A, the hate side having a correspondent song on the Love Side, side b. So that would make this song the mirror of "Joan of Arc". Given that Joan of Arc is about Cohen's one time lover Nico and her descent into heroin, that's where you have to start in breaking this song down.
I don't know about the lyrics but I think he sings in a very bitter way. Hatred and bitterness are expressed and represented in a great way. I just love this song.
The "man of energy" and "revolution's pride" that "trained a hundred women just to kill an unborn child" is actually Charles Manson, whose followers murdered then-pregnant actress Sharon Tate. It's a common misconception (and an understandable one, particularly after the release of "The Future"), but this, by his own admission, wasn't what Cohen had in mind when writing the song.
@JQT Thanx for the info. Never knew the lines refer to Manson.
@JQT And nor would it be, as it's unlikely given the recording timeline for this album (it took 18 moths to make, so that means that its tenuous that the story about Charles Manson would have been known at the time of the songs writing.
Well, the chorus is clear enough, but I've got know idea what the rest of the song is about. Where the lions and Christians fight? Trained a hundred women? Whaa?
Either way, I like how he just gets crazier as the song goes on, and he's just yelling at the end. It amuses me.
@jebso Leonard Cohen is brilliant. Notice also how he changes it to "your vine" and "your boxes" - nailing each of us personally. He ends by yelling the pain and frustration - very appropriate to the theme. He's done it before. At then end of "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" he sings "la da da da..." (the haunting melody) louder and louder, getting rough and off-key, screaming as he fades out. Like a man who tried to drown the pain with booze now leaving the stage. It's my favorite Cohen song.
this song is completely nuts. at the end he's just screaming his lungs out, it's fucking insane.
this song sounds to me like a hybrid of lou reed and tom waits. in the lyrics and the way they're sung. it's pretty great,
I always thought it had something to do with abortion. No Diamonds in the Mine, meaning no fertile eggs in a women?
I think there are definitely some references to the Manson family thrown in here. He references them again in the equally bleak song "The Future." The last verse here is really the tell as it describes the Tate-LaBianca killings.
it's about abortion, iirc.