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.
A good night, the best in a long time
A new friend turned me on to an old favorite
Nothing better than a dealer who's high
Be high, convince them to buy
What's my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
I don't go broke
And I do it a lot
Seems so sick to the hypocrite norm
Running their boring drills
But we are an elite race of our own
The stoners, junkies, and freaks
Are you happy?
I am, man
Content and fully aware
Money, status, nothing to me
Because your life's empty and bare
What's my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
I don't go broke
And I do it a lot
I do it a lot
Yeah
Yeah
You can't understand a user's mind
But try, with your books and degrees
If you let yourself go and opened your mind
I'll bet you'd be doing like me and it isn't so bad
What's my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
I don't go broke
And I do it a lot, said I do it a lot
I do it a lot
I do it a lot, said I do it a lot
A new friend turned me on to an old favorite
Nothing better than a dealer who's high
Be high, convince them to buy
What's my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
I don't go broke
And I do it a lot
Seems so sick to the hypocrite norm
Running their boring drills
But we are an elite race of our own
The stoners, junkies, and freaks
Are you happy?
I am, man
Content and fully aware
Money, status, nothing to me
Because your life's empty and bare
What's my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
I don't go broke
And I do it a lot
I do it a lot
Yeah
Yeah
You can't understand a user's mind
But try, with your books and degrees
If you let yourself go and opened your mind
I'll bet you'd be doing like me and it isn't so bad
What's my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
I don't go broke
And I do it a lot, said I do it a lot
I do it a lot
I do it a lot, said I do it a lot
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“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.
As a former heroin addict, who got clean with the help of the Dirt album, it was as if I could have written the lyrics myself, on how well I could relate to it. Here's my interpretation.
Verse 1. After being clean for some time, the user relapses. He forgets about all of the negative aspects of the drug use, and just focuses on how it makes him feel, which trust me, it's an amazing feeling, that is very hard to not want to re-experience. He would have stayed clean, but he met someone new, who just so happened to be under the influence, and also had some to get rid of. Being in that situation is very hard for a former user. Needless to say, he was convinced to do it again.
Chorus: The user doesn't do just one drug. He will do whatever he can get. At this point, both Layne and Jerry had large bank accounts due to the success of Facelift, so they always had cash available, and at this point frequently were doing different varieties of drugs.
Verse 2. It's a fact, that the majority of people look down on hard-drug users. It seems sick to them, and they frequently try to educate people on the dangers of drugs. The users however, understand each other, and can relate very well to one and other.
Verse 3. Are the non-users happy? The user feels that way at the moment. He feels content, and feels fully aware, although those are the drugs talking. He doesn't care about his money, or his status as a rockstar, because inside, he feels empty and bare.
Verse 4. Anyone who is not a user, or a former user, can not understand a users mind. No matter how much they study it, they still simply can not understand. However, anyone who tries it, no matter what their previous stance on the subject is, they will then understand the users mind, and at first see it as being not so bad.
@horrorbusiness89 This is a good, however, the line "Your life is empty and bare" is not about the user, rather it's about the hypocrite norm who only care about "money and status". Just wanted to point that out.
@horrorbusiness89<br /> <br /> You are fairly self obsessed and only care about your addiction dude.<br /> <br /> The song is talking about his mother's drug addiction. Basically when she goes to the doctor she will beg and cry and do anything to get any drug she wants because she is not enjoying her current 'high'.<br /> <br /> You are obviously not that clever but this song is actually incredibly cryptic and not simple to understand. My advice to you is that you sort yourself out and never relapse again mate. <br /> <br /> Life doesn't revolve around you all the time and I really hope you had the time to work that out. I could spend my day carefully explaining the true meaning of every fucking line but it feels like time wasted and I'm v tired today if you get what I mean. <br /> <br /> Have a nice, <br /> <br /> Jeff<br />