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.
No one's picking up the phone
Guess it's me and me
And this little masochist
She's ready to confess
All the things that I never thought
That she could feel and
Hey Jupiter
Nothing's been the same
So are you gay
Are you blue
Thought we both could use a friend
To run to
And I wouldn't have to be with you
As something new
Sometimes I breathe you in
And I know you know
And sometimes you take a swim
Found your writing on my wall
If my heart's soaking wet
Boy your boots can leave a mess
Hey Jupiter
Nothings been the same
So are you gay
Are you blue
Thought we both could use a friend
To run to
And I thought you wouldn't have to keep
With me
Hiding
Thought I knew myself so well
All the dolls I had
Took my leather off the shelf
Your apocalypse was fab
For a girl who couldn't choose between
The shower or the bath
And I thought I wouldn't have to be
With you
A magazine
No one's picking up the phone
Guess it's clear he's gone
And this little masochist
Is lifting up her dress
Guess I thought I could never feel
The things I feel
Hey Jupiter, nothing's been the same
So are you gay
Are you blue
Thought we both could use a friend
To run to
Hey Jupiter, nothing's been the same
So are you sane, now we're through
Thought we both could use a friend
Hey Jupiter
Guess it's me and me
And this little masochist
She's ready to confess
All the things that I never thought
That she could feel and
Hey Jupiter
Nothing's been the same
So are you gay
Are you blue
Thought we both could use a friend
To run to
And I wouldn't have to be with you
As something new
Sometimes I breathe you in
And I know you know
And sometimes you take a swim
Found your writing on my wall
If my heart's soaking wet
Boy your boots can leave a mess
Hey Jupiter
Nothings been the same
So are you gay
Are you blue
Thought we both could use a friend
To run to
And I thought you wouldn't have to keep
With me
Hiding
Thought I knew myself so well
All the dolls I had
Took my leather off the shelf
Your apocalypse was fab
For a girl who couldn't choose between
The shower or the bath
And I thought I wouldn't have to be
With you
A magazine
No one's picking up the phone
Guess it's clear he's gone
And this little masochist
Is lifting up her dress
Guess I thought I could never feel
The things I feel
Hey Jupiter, nothing's been the same
So are you gay
Are you blue
Thought we both could use a friend
To run to
Hey Jupiter, nothing's been the same
So are you sane, now we're through
Thought we both could use a friend
Hey Jupiter
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Light Up The Sky
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Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
Hey Jupiter is about the pain of separation that Amos says is very much about a real man. "I was at my lowest. I was at a hotel in Phoenix, and I realized that for once there wasn't a man I could turn to."
"well, i was really in a bind because, um, i was doing some bad things. i was in a love triangle with these, uhh.., i don't know if they were real men now...i'm not...i'm confused about the whole thing! let's see , i was lying in bed...um, strange things happened to you on tour. like strange englishman start sitting at the end of your bed, apparitions of dead guys . and they start singing songs to you. and this guy was definitely dead, and he was definitely singing to me. um, so i'm confused about the copyright laws. i'm not sure if i need to call his ex-wife and give him part of the song or not. but, why should i do that! she's rich...she's not nice. and so, anyway, i kept the copyright, the guys forgot who i was, and the song's mine." [answer to question of the circumstances surrounding the writing of Hey Jupiter, VH1 Storytellers]
"When we hit Muhammad you realize we've just taken a bend in the road. The first half of the record is about her descent in to the horror; she's got to find another way of looking at herself. On Hey Jupiter, she knows the way she has looked at relationships with men and put them on a pedestal is over. There's a sense of incredible loss because I knew that I would never be able to see the same way again. It's freeing, and [yet] there's a sense of grieving with that."
The remark about "strange Englishmen" and "apparitions of dead guys" is a reference to John Lennon and a slam at Yoko Ono.