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 soldier came knocking upon the queen's door
He said, "I am not fighting for you any more"
The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
And slowly she let him inside.
He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
Only first I am asking you why."
Down in the long narrow hall he was led
Into her rooms with her tapestries red
And she never once took the crown from her head
She asked him there to sit down.
He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won
And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun
And now will you tell me why?"
Well the young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.
And she said, "I have swallowed a secret burning thread
It cuts me inside, and often I've bled"
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.
"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
But I won't march again on your battlefield"
And he took her to the window to see.
And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray
And she wanted more than she ever could say
But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
And would not look at his face again.
And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
To get all I deserve and to give all I can
And to love a young woman who I don't understand
Your highness, your ways are very strange."
But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break
And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait
She would only be a moment inside.
Out in the distance her order was heard
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word
And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred
The battle continued on.
He said, "I am not fighting for you any more"
The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
And slowly she let him inside.
He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
Only first I am asking you why."
Down in the long narrow hall he was led
Into her rooms with her tapestries red
And she never once took the crown from her head
She asked him there to sit down.
He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won
And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun
And now will you tell me why?"
Well the young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.
And she said, "I have swallowed a secret burning thread
It cuts me inside, and often I've bled"
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.
"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
But I won't march again on your battlefield"
And he took her to the window to see.
And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray
And she wanted more than she ever could say
But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
And would not look at his face again.
And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
To get all I deserve and to give all I can
And to love a young woman who I don't understand
Your highness, your ways are very strange."
But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break
And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait
She would only be a moment inside.
Out in the distance her order was heard
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word
And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred
The battle continued on.
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I like to look at it as more of a story than a metaphor.
What we have is a girl, expected to have the wisdom and experience of a woman twice her age. She will never get to experience the joys of being a child..of being a young woman. She will never be able to follow her heart.
She wages wars and whether she wants to or not, they weigh heavily on her soul. She hides her pain and her guilt for having to put these people through this but doesn't see any other way. Were she to stop to ask for help, that would show weakness...so she moves forward without any real idea what direction she is going in. To cope, she puts on a mask of arrogance thus using it to displace what she has done from herself, else it would inwardly destroy her (Hence the part about closing like a fan). She continues to wear her crown to remind her of the weight of her decisions.
Then here you have this soldier who is tired of fighting and never quite sure why. He seems to honestly care about her as a young woman, not a queen. Perhaps he knows how burdened her heart is with all that she does...or maybe he thinks she isn't aware of all of the pain she is causing. Unable to continue fighting these wars...for either the pain they cause or possibly the burden they put on her heart, he confronts her.
The part:
"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed But I won't march again on your battlefield"
Reveals a lot about him. How much does she really want all of this fighting? And how helpless she must feel. The cycle of the fighting going on and her powerless to ever do anything about it. He mentions that she is never revealed. They fight for "The Queen" but no one down there knows the girl who sits on "The Queen's" throne is. He then tells her he won't march on her battlefield again but I can't but wonder if it is because he -does- know how much the fighting hurts her...that maybe it would ease her pain a little if he stopped fighting for her..that she would know that there would be one less man out there dying in her name.
"And she wanted more than she ever could say But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away And would not look at his face again."
I think maybe she really didn't want any of this. I think she wanted to be a young woman who would experience the joy of love, of growing up, of not having the weight of the world on such tiny shoulders. It frightened her because she didn't know how to deal with these feelings. She had no one to turn to before and now there was this man who spoke kindly to her...one of the nameless men from the battlefield. He now had a face. He now had a gentle voice...and she was ashamed. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. He was a real person to her now.
When it says:
And he said, "I want to live as an honest man To get all I deserve and to give all I can And to love a young woman who I don't understand Your highness, your ways are very strange."
I think that he's offering her what she desperately wants more than anything: The privilege of being a young bride. To get married. To be -loved- as a young woman and not a queen. In the next part:
But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
She is seriously considering it as he's offering her everything she could ever want. He's offering to take her away from here. To love her...and she's tempted to go. But to do so would leave her people in a war that she had started...it would leave her kingdom without someone looking over it. It would leave her burden to someone else that didn't ask for it. She was ashamed of herself for even thinking about going with him...no matter how much her heart yearns for it. In a moment of weakness, she tells him yes and to wait for her outside. But as she's inside, she hesitates realizing what she was about to do and knows that as long as he was living, there was a good chance she would betray her kingdom to follow her heart.
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred The battle continued on
The ending is tragic for both characters. The soldier is waiting outside for a woman who is not coming thinking that he is going to bring home his bride. Thinking that he can bring an end to her pain.
The Queen destroys the one person in all the world that would ever care about her as a woman and though she will continue on in her solitude..her loneliness, she would continue to bear the burden of her actions.
I feel sorry for the both of them really. The Soldier does seem like he was a wonderful man though. It pains me to see him killed just for trying to love someone.
@Lady_Paladin Although my response is not very timely, I was recently re-introduced to this song. In brief, our daughter, Gwendolyn Aleigh, was born September 17, 1992. She was killed by her daycare provider a year and a month later. I was looking at her baby book and, under the section labelled "Favorite Lullaby" I wrote down this song. For many years, I'd forgotten how much our daughter loved going to sleep after I told her a story through music.<br /> <br /> I'd not even sung this song since Gwen's death, 24 years ago. Yet, the moment I heard it again, I remembered every word.<br /> <br /> I agree with you that it's a story.<br /> <br /> I have to admit that it seems a bit off base and overanalyzed when I notice that some folks seem to place the lyrics under a microscope as if there is some kind of complex code for the listener to analyze and discover. <br /> <br /> As a musician myself, I realize that many pieces of music are more than what we hear, it's the nature of the beast. However, it's fairly presumptuous to be so bold as to TELL us the true meaning of the lyrics (instead of stating that the interpretation is what you think of while listening to it).<br /> <br /> Whenever I hear a song of any kind, I am oftentimes reminded of the lyrics at the end of the piece, "Breathe (2 a.m.)" since it's true for every piece of music, as well as dialog sections which capture our attention while watching a favorite movie or play:<br /> <br /> "2 a.m. and I'm still awake writing a song, if I get it all down I'll be burdened no longer inside of me threatening the life it belongs to. But I feel like I'm naked in front of a crowd 'cause these words are my diary screaming out loud and I know that you'll use them however you want to."<br /> <br /> She's quite clear about what it's like to be a musical artist. Until the song lyrics are transferred in written form from whatever ideas the artist has, they feel burdened and are eager to get it out so that they can finally feel like they have given the exact piece of music to the tortured soul who needs it. Even though the lyrics will be used in whichever way the listener is inclined to use them...<br /> <br /> BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POST ABOUT THE QUEEN AND THE SOLDIER...<br /> <br /> As a story, the song speaks volumes. Are they attracted to each other or not? I'm not certain. Maybe she had "seen his face someplace before" because he caught her eye? Who knows? I often think about how young some of the Kings and Queens of ancient times must have felt overwhelmed by having the power of a leader before having the chance to experience what it's like to just be a child. The only adults they have to rely upon are advisors who have their own agendas and desires to obtain some of the power.<br /> <br /> Whatever the song is about, it's quite haunting and beautiful as well...IMO... Renée