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.
Nothing can be done against the truth
No matter how we remain in denial, yeah
Wasting time, replacing time with each empty excuse
But that'll only work a little while
Coping with despair, knowing you're not there
Ashamed to just admit I've been a fool
So I blame it on the son, run away from everyone
Hoping to escape this ridicule
Trapped in misery, wrapped so miserably
And this deception, I wear it like a skin
Dying to maintain, oh I keep trying to explain
A heart that never loved me to begin
Oh I'm such a mess, I have no choice but to confess
That I've been desperately trying to belong
Lieing to myself and everybody else
Refusing to admit my right was wrong, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Praise and meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Did you think about that? And then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Praise and meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
That it is seen
How beautiful is fruit still in denial of its roots
My guilty heart behaves so foolishly
This treason from within that reasons with my sin
Won't be happy 'til it sees the death of me
Selfishly addicted to a life that I depicted
Conflicted 'cause it's not reality
Oh what's left of me, I beg you desperately
Cause me to agree with what I know is best for me
Please save me from myself, I need you, save me from myself
Please save me from myself so I can heal
The choices that I've made, oh have been nothing but mistakes
What a wasted use of space, should I die before I wake?
In all of my religion, I've fortified this prison
Obligated to obey the demands of bad decision
Please save me from myself
I need you to save me from myself
Please save me from myself so I can heal
And then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Praise and meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Did you think about that? And he came
Selah, oh and it means
Meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
That it is seen
And then he came
And then he came, then he came, then he came
And then he
And then he came
No matter how we remain in denial, yeah
Wasting time, replacing time with each empty excuse
But that'll only work a little while
Coping with despair, knowing you're not there
Ashamed to just admit I've been a fool
So I blame it on the son, run away from everyone
Hoping to escape this ridicule
Trapped in misery, wrapped so miserably
And this deception, I wear it like a skin
Dying to maintain, oh I keep trying to explain
A heart that never loved me to begin
Oh I'm such a mess, I have no choice but to confess
That I've been desperately trying to belong
Lieing to myself and everybody else
Refusing to admit my right was wrong, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Praise and meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Did you think about that? And then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Praise and meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
That it is seen
How beautiful is fruit still in denial of its roots
My guilty heart behaves so foolishly
This treason from within that reasons with my sin
Won't be happy 'til it sees the death of me
Selfishly addicted to a life that I depicted
Conflicted 'cause it's not reality
Oh what's left of me, I beg you desperately
Cause me to agree with what I know is best for me
Please save me from myself, I need you, save me from myself
Please save me from myself so I can heal
The choices that I've made, oh have been nothing but mistakes
What a wasted use of space, should I die before I wake?
In all of my religion, I've fortified this prison
Obligated to obey the demands of bad decision
Please save me from myself
I need you to save me from myself
Please save me from myself so I can heal
And then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Praise and meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
Did you think about that? And he came
Selah, oh and it means
Meditation, and then he came
Selah, oh and it means
That it is seen
And then he came
And then he came, then he came, then he came
And then he
And then he came
Lyrics submitted by ShootingStar
Selah Lyrics as written by Lauryn Hill
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think its her talking to her daughter ,maybe she is explaining stuff about Selah's father, and her mistakes with him,. and her life at that time and up to that point
maybe something went wrong with the father and the song is her expressing her desire for her daughter to understand what happened and why she made some of the decisions she made
I dunno, thats how it sounded to me anyway
This is SUCH a beautiful song...usually I'm into harder stuff like rock, but this is gorgeous and so meaningful. Takes my breath away.
Some of this has to be changed. Here are the correct lyrics:
"...In this deception that I'm wearing like a skin" "...Oh and it means, that it deceived" "How beautiful is fruit still in denial of it's roots" "... Oh what's left of me, I beg you desprately, cause me to agree that what I know is best for me"
Isn't Selah her daughter's name? I love the song, but i don't see how it relates to her kid
I dont see the relation either. But just food for thought, Selah is used in the book of Psalms in a similar context to the word 'Amen'.
I think its her talking to her daughter ,maybe she is explaining stuff about Selah's father, and her mistakes with him,. and her life at that time and up to that point
maybe something went wrong with the father and the song is her expressing her desire for her daughter to understand what happened and why she made some of the decisions she made
I dunno, thats how it sounded to me anyway
-I adore this line: "How beautiful is fruit still in denial of it's roots" beautiful
no selah might be her daughter's name but selah has an arabic origin, by the way most african names has an arabic origin like jamal, selah in islam means a prayer to god or in arabic as she said praise and meditation. so it's about confessing to yourself about your own mistakes and denials because yourself is the one you fear the most to confess to
Lauryn Hill is a Christian. This song is meant for Jesus. She's asking him to save her from her own deception.
I agree that she wrote this about God, she is obviously asking Him to save her and talking about her mistakes until He came. I feel like this could still be addressed to her daughter, or she could just be explaining the origin of that name. Beautiful, peaceful, redeeming song.
Selah is a pause between phrases from the Hebrew bible, or a musical interlude. It's a very difficult to describe word. No idea what that means in conjunction to this song