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.
We ain't going to the party
We ain't going to the game
We ain't going to the disco
Ain't gonna cruise down Main
We're stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
On a Friday night
Drivin' in the mountains
Winding 'round and 'round
Rummage through your mailboxes
Take your mail back to town
And we got license plates, wedding gifts, tax returns
Checks to politicians from real estate firms
Money, bills and cancelled checks
Pretty funny pictures of your kids
We're gonna steal your mail
On a Friday night
We're gonna steal your mail
By the pale moonlight
We got grocery sackful after grocery sackful
After grocery sackful after grocery sackful
After grocery sackful after grocery sackful
Of the private lives of you
People say that we're crazy
We're sick and all alone
But when we read your letters
We're rolling on the floor
And we got license plates, wedding gifts, tax returns
Checks to politicians from real estate firms
Money, bills and cancelled checks
We cut relationships with your friends
We're gonna steal your mail
On a Friday night
We're gonna steal your mail
By the pale moonlight
We better not get caught
We'll be dumped in institutions
Where we'll be drugged and shocked
Till we come out born-again Christians
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
On a Friday night, n-n-n-night
We ain't going to the game
We ain't going to the disco
Ain't gonna cruise down Main
We're stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
On a Friday night
Drivin' in the mountains
Winding 'round and 'round
Rummage through your mailboxes
Take your mail back to town
And we got license plates, wedding gifts, tax returns
Checks to politicians from real estate firms
Money, bills and cancelled checks
Pretty funny pictures of your kids
We're gonna steal your mail
On a Friday night
We're gonna steal your mail
By the pale moonlight
We got grocery sackful after grocery sackful
After grocery sackful after grocery sackful
After grocery sackful after grocery sackful
Of the private lives of you
People say that we're crazy
We're sick and all alone
But when we read your letters
We're rolling on the floor
And we got license plates, wedding gifts, tax returns
Checks to politicians from real estate firms
Money, bills and cancelled checks
We cut relationships with your friends
We're gonna steal your mail
On a Friday night
We're gonna steal your mail
By the pale moonlight
We better not get caught
We'll be dumped in institutions
Where we'll be drugged and shocked
Till we come out born-again Christians
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
Stealing people's mail
On a Friday night, n-n-n-night
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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.
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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.
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
...No, stealing people's mail does not creat total anarchy. It just annoys people; how is pissing people off a stroke of genius? And you'd not really be 'undermining the institute' by stealing mail; these are normal people that you're stealing from, and the government isn't hurt. Dead Kennedys' satire is one of the things I really like about them.