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.
I wrote this once before
Long before the summer
You were then a student
And we were dark as angels
We were in the east
Working to the west
The west was looking south
And the south she had no pity
But last night I dreamed
And you were always
In it
There were
Hopes and plans and schemes
And the town was full of winners
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Has lighted things so
Differently
Has lighted things so
Differently
I wrote this once before
And we were all then working
We thought we`d stop the flow
Of a cruel and heartless woman
If I`d known this then
What would these wings have done
They`d have beat and flapped and flown
And not done and not done
But last night I dreamed
And you were always
In it
There were
Hopes and plans and schemes
And the town was full of winners
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Has lighted things so
Differently
Has lighted things so
Differently
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Has lighted things so
Differently
Lighted things so
Differently
So differently
I wrote it on my hand
I kept it in the dark
I never ran it through my hair
I stuffed it in my pocket
I wrote this on a journey
All the way from Spain
Where our fellows fought
And never came back again
To this changing light
To this changing light
Dark dark
Changing light
Dark dark dark dark
Light
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1989
To this changing light
To this changing light
Changing light
To this changing light
Long before the summer
You were then a student
And we were dark as angels
We were in the east
Working to the west
The west was looking south
And the south she had no pity
But last night I dreamed
And you were always
In it
There were
Hopes and plans and schemes
And the town was full of winners
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Has lighted things so
Differently
Has lighted things so
Differently
I wrote this once before
And we were all then working
We thought we`d stop the flow
Of a cruel and heartless woman
If I`d known this then
What would these wings have done
They`d have beat and flapped and flown
And not done and not done
But last night I dreamed
And you were always
In it
There were
Hopes and plans and schemes
And the town was full of winners
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Has lighted things so
Differently
Has lighted things so
Differently
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Oh brother
Oh sister
This changing light
Has lighted things so
Differently
Lighted things so
Differently
So differently
I wrote it on my hand
I kept it in the dark
I never ran it through my hair
I stuffed it in my pocket
I wrote this on a journey
All the way from Spain
Where our fellows fought
And never came back again
To this changing light
To this changing light
Dark dark
Changing light
Dark dark dark dark
Light
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1989
To this changing light
To this changing light
Changing light
To this changing light
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Light Up The Sky
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Cajun Girl
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
Not sure about the whole song but the refrain where he runs through the years...1979, 1980, 1981....1989 are the years that Thatcher was Prime Minister.
The last verse is about the International Brigade, socialists/communists who went to fight for the republic in the Spanish Civil War. Writer Ricky Ross relates this to the non-socialist years under Mrs Thatcher. There is a monument to those who died in the war, in the bands hometown of Glasgow. Rich musicians preaching about the glories of socialism...don't you just want to laugh, cause your loaded?