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.
The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that clears the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you
You climbed upon a burning rope to escape the mob below
But you had put the flaming out so that others could now follow
To be out of the bounds and the barks of those who do not wish you well
You must blaze a trail of your own, unknown, alone
But keep in mind
Don't live today for tomorrow like you were immortal
The only survivors on this world of ours are
The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that clears the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you
You're old and disillusioned now as you realise at least
That all you have accomplished here will have soon all turned to dust
You dream of a future after life, well that's as maybe, I don't know
But you can't take what you left behind, you're all alone
So keep in mind
Don't live today for tomorrow like you were immortal
The only survivors on this world of ours are
The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that clears the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Harley100
Burning Rope Lyrics as written by Tony Banks
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
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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"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
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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"
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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I have to be honest: I think TB started with the two lines about climbing up a burning rope but putting the flames out so that others could follow...and tried to build a whole song on top of that. I've always felt that this song lacks lyrical depth.
It does have the romantic and dramatic trademark of Banks around that time. It's like a mini One For The Vine in some respects.
@TonyM101 <br /> <br /> Mini is the perfect description