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.
What are they doing here?
Something so familiar to my ears
Well they move like ancient science fiction on
The vacuum screen
And they sing of love and loneliness and
Different shades of green
Drownin in a lake of tears
Seems like they've been doing it for years
Ringing in my ears
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Well we listen on in silence, memorizing line and verse
Though the poetry is awful and the imagery is worse
Doesen't it seem absurd?
Little children learning every single word
And they mimic words and phrases of a
Hundred years ago
And observe a moments silence for the guy who
Wrote Hey Joe
Matthew said it best at Janes
Though the maidens gone, her innocence remains
We sing on in chains
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Well I'm laughing at the waitress and they're
Starving in the street
And they're charging more for wonder and
They're burning fields of wheat
Am I crazy, was it really only 20 years ago?
Or more or less, I'm not so sure
Raised on Classic Rock
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Something so familiar to my ears
Well they move like ancient science fiction on
The vacuum screen
And they sing of love and loneliness and
Different shades of green
Drownin in a lake of tears
Seems like they've been doing it for years
Ringing in my ears
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Well we listen on in silence, memorizing line and verse
Though the poetry is awful and the imagery is worse
Doesen't it seem absurd?
Little children learning every single word
And they mimic words and phrases of a
Hundred years ago
And observe a moments silence for the guy who
Wrote Hey Joe
Matthew said it best at Janes
Though the maidens gone, her innocence remains
We sing on in chains
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Well I'm laughing at the waitress and they're
Starving in the street
And they're charging more for wonder and
They're burning fields of wheat
Am I crazy, was it really only 20 years ago?
Or more or less, I'm not so sure
Raised on Classic Rock
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
Bob ba da bop ba da ba da
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
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.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
The missing opening lines are...
"Well, I get off work at midnight/like I did it yesterday and I listen to the signal that the ancient strangers play."
This song is clearly about how rock music had been turned into a commodity by the late 70s/ early 80s. By that time, less-and-less new music was being played and you started hearing the same thirty "classic" songs played on radio for years and years on end.