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.
Rag weed tall better hope that his ladder don't crack
Or he'll hit the ground low, hard and out of his back
At the battle at the bottom of the ocean, well the dead
Do rise
You need proof I got proof at the surface you can watch
'Em float by
Way in back of the room, there sits a cage
Inside it's a clock that you can win if you can guess its age
Which you never can do 'cause the time it constantly changes
For luck or lack
I guess that is the saying
On the first page of the book of blue it read
"If you read this page, than that'll be your death"
By then it was too late
And you wound up on an island of shells and bones that
Bodies had left
And the one thing you taught me
'bout human beings was this
They ain't made of nothin' but water and shit
Or he'll hit the ground low, hard and out of his back
At the battle at the bottom of the ocean, well the dead
Do rise
You need proof I got proof at the surface you can watch
'Em float by
Way in back of the room, there sits a cage
Inside it's a clock that you can win if you can guess its age
Which you never can do 'cause the time it constantly changes
For luck or lack
I guess that is the saying
On the first page of the book of blue it read
"If you read this page, than that'll be your death"
By then it was too late
And you wound up on an island of shells and bones that
Bodies had left
And the one thing you taught me
'bout human beings was this
They ain't made of nothin' but water and shit
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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.
Mountain Song
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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."
Magical
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
The water motif is plentiful here, and its interesting to see that Brock continues that with many of his songs as well as with his latest album. So what does water signify? Probably, in accordance with his existentialist beliefs, the source of all life and the source of our lives. And it connects back with the very start where he mentions that we were all animals swimming the ocean before we came to land. The very last line hits hard because while we come from water, that's all we are made of. As significant as we are to be alive, it's equally insignificant. And that fits right into the idea of the entire album. The Moon and Antarctica is so full of existentialist meaning and interpretations of life, but it is equally insignificant bullshit in the end. This song completely reverses the cathartic ending of Life Like Weeds just like an ending to a book that punches you in the face at the very end and laughs at you for believing all the bullshit you just read. That's really what makes M&A so perfect. It creates a ethereal world view and feeling within you and throws you back into the dirty reality at the very end, leaving you stranded and reviewing what you just listened to.