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.
1-2-3-4
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
C-A-U-T-I-O-N is a word I could not understand
Walked the dog with a real short leash
Turned around, saw the dog walk me
Stainless steel and painted glass
Give me a pulse like a hammer and a mind to match
No relief, no food, no sleep
When you're king for a day, you're a whore for a week
(All right)
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Ah, caution is a word that I can't understand
C-A-U-T-I-O-N is a word I could not understand
Walked the dog with a real short leash
Turned around, saw the dog walk me
Stainless steel and painted glass
Give me a pulse like a hammer and a mind to match
No relief, no food, no sleep
When you're king for a day, you're a whore for a week
(Yeah)
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
I didn't get it then
I think I got it now
Caution, my friend
Don't step in the water 'til you know you can swim
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
(Yeah, caution)
Can't understand
(Yeah, caution)
Can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
C-A-U-T-I-O-N is a word I could not understand
Walked the dog with a real short leash
Turned around, saw the dog walk me
Stainless steel and painted glass
Give me a pulse like a hammer and a mind to match
No relief, no food, no sleep
When you're king for a day, you're a whore for a week
(All right)
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Ah, caution is a word that I can't understand
C-A-U-T-I-O-N is a word I could not understand
Walked the dog with a real short leash
Turned around, saw the dog walk me
Stainless steel and painted glass
Give me a pulse like a hammer and a mind to match
No relief, no food, no sleep
When you're king for a day, you're a whore for a week
(Yeah)
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
I didn't get it then
I think I got it now
Caution, my friend
Don't step in the water 'til you know you can swim
Caution is a word that I can't understand
Caution is a word that I can't understand
(Yeah, caution)
Can't understand
(Yeah, caution)
Can't understand
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
c-a-u-t-i-o-n is a word that i cant understand
I think this song is about drug use, quite possibly cocaine. "a pulse like a hammer and a mind to match, no relief no food no sleep" sounds like he's getting high off uppers, no doubt. "when you're a king for a day you're a whore for a week" is the great high you have but the awful comedown afterwards.
antispace, i completely disagree with you.
operation ivy's lyrics are usually much deeper than drugs, and i'm pretty sure none of them were druggies.
this song seems to be about carpe diem, not drugs.
i think antispace is absolutely correct.
skaboss, op ivy didn't write this song to condone or promote drug use-- if anything, it's a warning. it's about someone who wasn't cautious and started taking drugs, and then it got out of hand ("turned around, saw the dog walk me"). then he learns his lesson and offers some advice: "i didn't get it then/ i think i got it now... don't step in the water til you know you can swim".
don't kid yourself; op ivy weren't as deep as you think. they simply wrote very smart, insightful lyrics, often about urban issues. drug abuse is as good a topic as any.
can anybody guess as to what he means by "stainless steel and painted glass"?
I always thought stainless steel on painted glass was a reference to preparation of drugs. Either the kind of surfaces in toilets or bathrooms or stainless steel blades, mirror, that kind of thing.
I thought of a pipe for "painted glass", but nothing specific for stainless steel. So that works with the drug theory.
it seems to work for drugs, but I think this pattern in seen in all kinds of ways.
i think the steel and glass could mean something about a syringe if the song really is about drug use
I can see hoe it can be looked on as a drug influenced song, but to be honest I agree with skaboss it has always stood out to me as more of a carpe diem idea, I look at it as a postive energy filled song of awesome :D
I agree that this song is about drug use.
Everyone thinks they dont have a problem when doing drugs and that they can controll their use(walked dog on a real short leash) but in hind sight addicts really don't (turned around saw the dog walk me)
Stainless steel and painted glass i think refers to spoons (sterling silver = stainless steel)(use spoons to free base) and pyrex pipes, bowls and bongs (painted glass) which is used to consume drugs.
The rest of the lyrics describe the feelings of being high and coming down from it(a pulse like a hammer and a mind to match no relief no food no sleep when you're king for a day you're a whore for a week)
And the last bit is about finally getting clean and telling his story through this song as a warning to us, to have caution when using, cuz they've been there before. Caution was a word he couldn't understand (when he started or someone in the group started) but he's got it now (that he's off of it). Brings it all full circle.