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.
In lonely gas stations with mini-marts
You'll find rows of them for sale
Liquor-filled statues of Elvis Presley
Drink like a vampire
His disciples flock to such a fitting shrine
Sprawled across from his graceless mansion
A shopping mall
Filled with prayer rugs and Elvis dolls
And I wonder
Yeah I wonder
Will Elvis take the place of Jesus in a thousand years
Religious wars
Barbaric laws
Bloodshed worldwide
Over what's left of his myth
A growing boy needs his lunch
When pesticides get banned we're safe up north
We just sell them to those other countries
Soon there's lots of exotic deformed babies
Somehow that's not our fault
Just dip 'em in glaze paint 'em orange and green
For the Arizona roadside stands
To sell alongside plaster burros and birthbaths
And I wonder
Yeah I wonder
Why so many insects around us feed off the dead
Death squads
Starvation
Foreign aid?
Just leave it to the magic of the marketplace
A growing boy needs his lunch
Everyone should just love each other
Dip your toe into the fire
Drop your guns and lawsuits and love each other
Life begins beyond the bunker
And while you're busy hugging in the streets
Outgrowing your hatred for all to feel
Jiminy Cricket's found a game to play
Stick your neck out and trust-It'll be chopped away
Jimmy through your locked front doors
Rifle through your sacred drawers
Line my pockets
Deface your dreams
Til the cows come home to me
Nibbling like an earwig winding through your brain
Bound like Lawrence Harvey spread eagle to a bed
The migraine gets worse when we find out we lay eggs
And no one in all of Borneo can hear you scream
Turn on
Tune in
Cop out
Drop kick
Turn in
Tune out
You'll find rows of them for sale
Liquor-filled statues of Elvis Presley
Drink like a vampire
His disciples flock to such a fitting shrine
Sprawled across from his graceless mansion
A shopping mall
Filled with prayer rugs and Elvis dolls
And I wonder
Yeah I wonder
Will Elvis take the place of Jesus in a thousand years
Religious wars
Barbaric laws
Bloodshed worldwide
Over what's left of his myth
A growing boy needs his lunch
When pesticides get banned we're safe up north
We just sell them to those other countries
Soon there's lots of exotic deformed babies
Somehow that's not our fault
Just dip 'em in glaze paint 'em orange and green
For the Arizona roadside stands
To sell alongside plaster burros and birthbaths
And I wonder
Yeah I wonder
Why so many insects around us feed off the dead
Death squads
Starvation
Foreign aid?
Just leave it to the magic of the marketplace
A growing boy needs his lunch
Everyone should just love each other
Dip your toe into the fire
Drop your guns and lawsuits and love each other
Life begins beyond the bunker
And while you're busy hugging in the streets
Outgrowing your hatred for all to feel
Jiminy Cricket's found a game to play
Stick your neck out and trust-It'll be chopped away
Jimmy through your locked front doors
Rifle through your sacred drawers
Line my pockets
Deface your dreams
Til the cows come home to me
Nibbling like an earwig winding through your brain
Bound like Lawrence Harvey spread eagle to a bed
The migraine gets worse when we find out we lay eggs
And no one in all of Borneo can hear you scream
Turn on
Tune in
Cop out
Drop kick
Turn in
Tune out
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