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.
didn't mean to wake you up
guess I couldn't sleep
tried to sleep out on the couch
but that's not where I want to be
and I'm so tired
it's late
and you're so tired
I can't wait
wanted to explain something
I'm not quite sure what that was
and when you finally talked to me
I'd forgotten what was on my mind
and I'm so tired
it's late
and you're so tired
I can't wait
Lyrics submitted by crazymoses, edited by seasideisme
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Light Up The Sky
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Van Halen
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I love the mood and imagery of this song. To me, it is about that sad point in a relationship when you feel (and fear) that something is not right. You want to talk to your significant other about it; you go through in in your mind, you feel a sense of urgency, you want them to give you some sort of comfort. You wake them from their sleep (perhaps a metaphor for pulling them away from their peace or distance), but by that time all the stuff you've been going through in your head goes away. You aren't sure if your weird feelings are valid, so you are apologetic and blame it on being tired, when really there is something brewing inside of you.
I had a girlfriend who would literally wake me up from my sleep because she'd get really insecure. She'd have the wildest fears, and she would drive herself crazy with obsessing over our relationship and how it's going. It would get to a point where she'd have to talk to me, usually out of desperation. But when she would, I wouldn't really understand the full capacity of what she was going through in her head, so I'd just give my love and talk through it a bit. She'd feel embarrassed and apologize, saying she's just stressed or tired. But there was something real behind those feelings, I think. We are no longer together, so, yeah.
In short, I think the meaning can go beyond this literal level of sleep and speak to the desperation we might feel to connect with someone and the subsequent embarrassment that follows after we try and realize it's not what we were looking for.