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.
He met this girl from reno
Whose life was a competition.
She looked just like a china doll
With porcelain skin she knew he'd let her win.
So he fell for her,
As if he fell from his mother into the arms of a lover.
And he swore not to leave her side,
For better or for worse (whichever comes first).
Sadly the latter arose.
She met this boy from omaha
Whose life was handed to him...
But still, he wanted everything.
His dreams were his ruin,
And she couldn't wake him up.
But the bough broke and he fell.
Like the time he fell from his mother
Into the arms of a doctor.
So he cried like that first day of his life.
He knew he had broken this beautiful porcelain
And how could their world be the same?
And so it never was the same.
She whispers his name,
"I'll stay if you want, but I could never be who you
Imagined me to be I'll stay I don't know what else to do...
But I can't change for you I won't change for you"
Whose life was a competition.
She looked just like a china doll
With porcelain skin she knew he'd let her win.
So he fell for her,
As if he fell from his mother into the arms of a lover.
And he swore not to leave her side,
For better or for worse (whichever comes first).
Sadly the latter arose.
She met this boy from omaha
Whose life was handed to him...
But still, he wanted everything.
His dreams were his ruin,
And she couldn't wake him up.
But the bough broke and he fell.
Like the time he fell from his mother
Into the arms of a doctor.
So he cried like that first day of his life.
He knew he had broken this beautiful porcelain
And how could their world be the same?
And so it never was the same.
She whispers his name,
"I'll stay if you want, but I could never be who you
Imagined me to be I'll stay I don't know what else to do...
But I can't change for you I won't change for you"
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
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.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
this song goes in circles and catches its tail. there's like 5 different sub-ideas running through the lyrics, the idea of her being porcelain, of the difference between the two of them, a comparison between the biblical definition of marriage (a man leaves his mother to cling to his wife) and then the end of the marriage like being born, into a world that's cold and cruel. first he talks of his real mother then compares the marriage to the safety of being in the womb.
and then caps it off with the reason it didn't work "i can't change for you" and furthermore " i won't change for you" how sometimes no matter how much you want to change, you can't, and the reasons is simply because you won't, because maybe you don't know how, or maybe a completely different reason.
always people WANT to do things but they WON'T.