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’m trying
To do what’s best for me
Most nights sitting in a parked car
Reminiscing times
I got you we can go far
There’s something
About your ways that’s changed
Check back in a year you’ll see
You’ll take back what you said to me
Things change when you grow up in a small town
I used to give a fuck but I don’t really know now
Simple ways when i’d bike down the block
4 kids, cold days, just skipping some rocks
Most times it never feels the same
I can’t keep up while you’re playing these games
Change my ways, as i read this note
I can’t tell you this
But I love you she wrote
It’s time you take a step back
Realize that you would miss that
Stuck in jersey on the other side of the map
While you drink away your pain
Pretending that’ll fix that
Same school, same moves
Somethings gotta change soon
Been feeling so alone that nothing really gives a great mood
People tell you give it all that you got
Until you suffer some more, lie awake and rot
Long drives, faint days
I want to feel the rain
I want to know that someone out there’s gotta feel the same.
Stepping outside, first time today
Retrace my mind, clear my thoughts away
To do what’s best for me
Most nights sitting in a parked car
Reminiscing times
I got you we can go far
There’s something
About your ways that’s changed
Check back in a year you’ll see
You’ll take back what you said to me
Things change when you grow up in a small town
I used to give a fuck but I don’t really know now
Simple ways when i’d bike down the block
4 kids, cold days, just skipping some rocks
Most times it never feels the same
I can’t keep up while you’re playing these games
Change my ways, as i read this note
I can’t tell you this
But I love you she wrote
It’s time you take a step back
Realize that you would miss that
Stuck in jersey on the other side of the map
While you drink away your pain
Pretending that’ll fix that
Same school, same moves
Somethings gotta change soon
Been feeling so alone that nothing really gives a great mood
People tell you give it all that you got
Until you suffer some more, lie awake and rot
Long drives, faint days
I want to feel the rain
I want to know that someone out there’s gotta feel the same.
Stepping outside, first time today
Retrace my mind, clear my thoughts away
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
To me, this song is about someone who typically loves being single and has never really fallen for anyone before. --"Till now, I always got by on my own; I never really cared until I met you." But they don't know how to approach the person --"How do I get you alone?" and tell them how they feel --"But the secret is still my own; & my love for you is still unknown." But I think the person they're falling for is someone they've been slowly falling for over a period of time. --"You don't know how how long I have wanted to touch your lips and hold you tight." Eventually, the person who is singing the song decides to tell the other person how they feel. --"You don't know how long I have waited; And I was gonna tell you tonight." But somehow, they couldn't, and they're still Alone.