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.
As the sun descends too quickly
Behind the distant city
She will ride under the water
She will leave her son and daughter
Reduced to lying naked
To feed those she holds sacred
She is bare of clothes and beauty
On disply in her nudity
If someone calls her name out
All she ever hears are cars
Through the window in the bathroom
Through the broken glass and bars
Seeking comfort in the wallet
Where she placed eighty dollars
When the last one has departed
She can slide into the darkness
And slowly down the river
The current pulls her under
And it bathes her in its splendor
Is unmoved by her surrender
And faint through the water
The lights like brittle stars
Someone called her name out
She no longer hears the cars
Christine...
Behind the distant city
She will ride under the water
She will leave her son and daughter
Reduced to lying naked
To feed those she holds sacred
She is bare of clothes and beauty
On disply in her nudity
If someone calls her name out
All she ever hears are cars
Through the window in the bathroom
Through the broken glass and bars
Seeking comfort in the wallet
Where she placed eighty dollars
When the last one has departed
She can slide into the darkness
And slowly down the river
The current pulls her under
And it bathes her in its splendor
Is unmoved by her surrender
And faint through the water
The lights like brittle stars
Someone called her name out
She no longer hears the cars
Christine...
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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.
Mountain Song
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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."
No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
This is my favorite song on the Liberator album. Overall I feel it's OMD's weakest album (an opinion which Andy McCluskey himself shares) but this song alone makes the album worth buying. The lyrics and music are beautifully atmospheric and dreamlike.
The song is about a woman who works as a stripper or prostitute because it's the only way she can support herself and feed her kids. The line "If someone calls her name out, all she ever hears are cars" I think indicates that there are people who want to help her, but she's oblivious to this, all she hears are cars, possibly those of punters pulling up outside the strip club/brothel.
Going by the final verses I think she chooses suicide as an escape by drowning herself in the river, leaving the money for her kids. The way the lyrics and music combine at the end convey a feeling of escape, a carefully planned suicide that gives her a sense of triumphance in escaping. The lyrics "And faint through the water, the lights like brittle stars" are beautiful imagery. In my opinion this is the one song on Liberator that proved 100% that OMD still had it.