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 night of a thousand verses
One thousand friends said have you heard
What we expected
We are all working late and
Waiting to win a prize we don't deserve
And live to collect it
Can't you see I'm weary
Maybe this news can wait
The night of a thousand verses
One thousand strivers strain to hear
A voice that's left us
And the magazines still have to sell us
Twelve master geniuses a year
It's all so shameless
Can't you see I'm weary
Maybe this news can wait
Can't you see I'm blurry
Maybe this news can wait
Maybe there was a message in it
I don't know where you hid it
Maybe there was a piece that will fit
I don't know where to fit it
Tell me what kind of prize can you get
Where you don't want to win it?
Can't you see I'm weary
Maybe this news can wait
Can't you see I'm blurry
Maybe this blues can wait.
One thousand friends said have you heard
What we expected
We are all working late and
Waiting to win a prize we don't deserve
And live to collect it
Can't you see I'm weary
Maybe this news can wait
The night of a thousand verses
One thousand strivers strain to hear
A voice that's left us
And the magazines still have to sell us
Twelve master geniuses a year
It's all so shameless
Can't you see I'm weary
Maybe this news can wait
Can't you see I'm blurry
Maybe this news can wait
Maybe there was a message in it
I don't know where you hid it
Maybe there was a piece that will fit
I don't know where to fit it
Tell me what kind of prize can you get
Where you don't want to win it?
Can't you see I'm weary
Maybe this news can wait
Can't you see I'm blurry
Maybe this blues can wait.
Lyrics submitted by immortalbeloved
The Prize Lyrics as written by Daniel Dodd Wilson
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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“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.
i'm fairly new to posting on this website, and this song has been around for years now, so i was kind of surprised no one else has commented here. and it's been a few years since i've listened to this song but i recently got an incredible urge to hear it again. i have never actually heard any of semisonic's proper albums (shame on me, i know); i only own a greatest hits compilation of theirs. it's a damn fine collection--that band has a knack for churning out catchy power pop songs--so it's weird, now that i think about it, that i never made an effort to hear more of their discography.
from their best of collection, though, this is easily my favorite song. this track has a very unique tone that none of the other songs on the compilation have--it has a much darker sound. there's a tension in the verses because it feels like there's no resolution to the melody. ...which is why i absolutely fucking love the chord change into the chorus. it provides the release that the verse before had built up. and i also have to say i love the drums in the chorus--the cymbal work provides the coolest accents to the beat.
i was hoping someone here would have some intelligent insights regarding the lyrics, but alas, there were no comments. and i, unfortunately, am not very perceptive when it comes to the reading of lyrics. i definitely see some religious overtones here, but i can't seem to form any eloquent, substantial thoughts on the matter. hopefully other people will have left some comments by the time i get the urge to hear this song again in the distant future.