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.
I colored this picture for you
A little girl crying in her room
Her mom's just outside the door holding her head
And her brother's outside shooting hoops
Yeah, you can see him past her windowsill,
but we're not looking at him the same ever again
Baby what'd he do to you?
Come on what's happened to you?
Tell mama that you're ok?
May flowers
She won't say a single word
the doctor's gave up on her,
some things just can't be cured
Or covered up
These days she's hardly alive
Uh oh, Uh oh
She's already dead in the eyes
Uh oh, Uh oh
The house has been silent ever since.
Uh oh
Tell me what happened to Caroline
Whatever happened to Caroline?
What ever happened to Caroline?
Come on!
Baby what'd he do to you?
Come on what's happened to you?
Mama knows it hurts inside
Deflowered!
"When you're on your feed again you'll grow a resilience to those cold,
unrelenting showers"
May flowers
Grow taller
the harder April storms on the land
If you knew these storms were gonna come
I thought mothers protected their young
Those rainclouds are hiding your son
Now look at what happened to Caroline!
Look at what happened to Caroline!
Whatever happened to Caroline?
How do we solve a problem like
Uh oh, uh uh, uh oh, uh huh, uh oh
you don't.
Uh oh Uh oh!
still we've got to catch those clouds,
we've got to keep them down.
How do we solve a problem we don't want to know about?
Uh oh, we don't..
A little girl crying in her room
Her mom's just outside the door holding her head
And her brother's outside shooting hoops
Yeah, you can see him past her windowsill,
but we're not looking at him the same ever again
Baby what'd he do to you?
Come on what's happened to you?
Tell mama that you're ok?
May flowers
She won't say a single word
the doctor's gave up on her,
some things just can't be cured
Or covered up
These days she's hardly alive
Uh oh, Uh oh
She's already dead in the eyes
Uh oh, Uh oh
The house has been silent ever since.
Uh oh
Tell me what happened to Caroline
Whatever happened to Caroline?
What ever happened to Caroline?
Come on!
Baby what'd he do to you?
Come on what's happened to you?
Mama knows it hurts inside
Deflowered!
"When you're on your feed again you'll grow a resilience to those cold,
unrelenting showers"
May flowers
Grow taller
the harder April storms on the land
If you knew these storms were gonna come
I thought mothers protected their young
Those rainclouds are hiding your son
Now look at what happened to Caroline!
Look at what happened to Caroline!
Whatever happened to Caroline?
How do we solve a problem like
Uh oh, uh uh, uh oh, uh huh, uh oh
you don't.
Uh oh Uh oh!
still we've got to catch those clouds,
we've got to keep them down.
How do we solve a problem we don't want to know about?
Uh oh, we don't..
Lyrics submitted by BecauseTylerKnows
May Flowers Lyrics as written by Tim Kasher Gretta Mindy Cohn
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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 this song deals with the rape or abuse of a little girl by her brother.. which is a very odd theme, but its an amazing song, tim kasher is one of the best vocalists around.