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 chromosomes divide,
multiply and thrive
And the strong survive,
and the strong survive
And a spaceman fucked an ape
then cut out on the date
and now it's much too late
The space ship has escaped
We're lacking something,
something good
Is this all for nothing,
Show me the goods,
something good
The chromosomes divide,
multiply and thrive
And the strong survive
And the strong survive
And the grandson of an alien
wears his snake skin boots
And shows his reptile roots
He shows his reptile roots
We're lacking something,
something good
Is this all for nothing,
Show me the goods,
something good
Boom tick tick
and who skipped
the long play
Who skipped the record
and who amped what you say
I want to sing a song that's my own
I want to the DJ
We're lacking something,
something good
Is this all for nothing,
Show me the goods,
something good
And it's alright,
It's a long night,
a long night,
It's a long night
multiply and thrive
And the strong survive,
and the strong survive
And a spaceman fucked an ape
then cut out on the date
and now it's much too late
The space ship has escaped
We're lacking something,
something good
Is this all for nothing,
Show me the goods,
something good
The chromosomes divide,
multiply and thrive
And the strong survive
And the strong survive
And the grandson of an alien
wears his snake skin boots
And shows his reptile roots
He shows his reptile roots
We're lacking something,
something good
Is this all for nothing,
Show me the goods,
something good
Boom tick tick
and who skipped
the long play
Who skipped the record
and who amped what you say
I want to sing a song that's my own
I want to the DJ
We're lacking something,
something good
Is this all for nothing,
Show me the goods,
something good
And it's alright,
It's a long night,
a long night,
It's a long night
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Darwin Lyrics as written by Stephan Jenkins Arion Salazar
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
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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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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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.
Plastic Bag
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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.
None of this shit is about finding God, people. Stephan's an atheist, and this song, I think, is about coming to terms with that atheism, realizing that the world isn't magical, and in a way that kind of sucks, but that's just how it is.
"And the grandson of an alien wears his snakeskin boots And shows his reptile roots"
That seems to be somewhat of a Bowie reference to me.
Surprised nobody commented on the last two minutes of the song... 18:50 there's a 2 minute ending to the song. Lyrics are kind of hard to understand, but it's pretty awesome nonetheless.
I believe the end of this song is an add on to the end of "The Red Summer Sun". The end of that song is very much alike this one, most of the words are even the same.
I want to be the DJ! Life is really simple but humans really like to complicate everything. Money, and economies and politics. It all comes down to happiness, you just need to ask yourself, are you happy?
Are you sure this proves he believes in evolution? I kind of interpreted it as being a questioning of evolution. Like it is too simple or something. A feeling that there has to be something more, or a reason for life.
Just like to be the nerby biology student and say he's got his evolutionism mixed up. Chromosomes multiply or replicate, THEN they divide, not the other way around.
Wow I'm such a geek.
this song is saying that extra terrestrials came to earth, mated with early humans, "and the strong survive", forming who we are today. im taking this literally, but i honestly believe that evolution did have a huge part in life and will continue too but we jumped millions of years, a sort of blurry "gap" occured, it doesn't add up correctly according to scientists and the bones they've discovered. im convinced that aliens had an enormous part in making us who we are today, and i absolutely love third eye blind, so this song just makes my life happy
? aliens..? wtf
Yup Yup
ignorance is bliss
lolsydneyy...Bingo! I am totally with you.
If you look up the meaning of what the third eye is, then you know what the name Third Eye Blind means as well.
In Genesis 6, the Nephilim are spoken of, and how they procreated with the "daughters of man" on the times when they were on earth. The Ancient Sumerian texts have more records of creating "Edama" in their image using surrogate mothers with the cross breeding between their kind and the Genus Species that is known to us today as "Homo Erectus". Then they took off in their flying "Shems" and have actual artistic murals of things that look like space ships. Zecharia Sitchin may not be correct on every translation for Sumerian Sanskrit, but I believe he is spot on for most of it. It's all starting to come out on discovery channel and history channel around Christmas time about how the Angels may have been extraterrestrials...also that these angels and "God" spoke directly to mankind, and God says "man has become like one us" in genesis 4 (I think). It's all there in the old testament. I have been reading on this stuff since I was 19 and I am about to be 31 in a few days...so 12 years. Been reading on this stuff for a long time. The books Holy Blood Holy Grail and the Messianic Legacy, have had one line here and there mentioning things relating to those Sumerian gods and biblical ties with them as well as their ties with Jerusalem and the time of Jesus...and the Knights Templar and the FreeMasons as well. Also, the Kolbrin Bible which is another collection of stories of creation and destruction written by the Celts, talks about "Heavenman" being reborn of the "she-ape" in the Cavern of Woe. Homo Sapiens made an evolutionary jump of being apes to humans in 35,000 years which is an evolutionary milisecond, and they keep thinking they find the link only to find humans living simultaneously with these other humanoid primates. It's all written in history, one must be open to it's understanding. Third eye blind has been one of my favorite bands since I was in high school, and their music can never get old to me.
I was reading a little bit about 3EB and it occurred to me what the ending of this song means. First off, I look back and wish S Jenkins and K Cadogan wouldn't have split up, because their best work came from these two. But Cadogan was kicked out of the band because he wouldn't agree to accept $1 Mil from the record company to come out with an EP centered around Slow Motion with lyrics.
Boom tick tick who skipped the long play Cadogan skipped the EP who skipped the record and who amped what you say? Jenkins saying why is cadogan's voice more important than the rest of the band I want to sing a song that's my own, I want to be the DJ Jenkins wants control of the music-doesn't want a partnership
So in the end Cadogan is kicked out of the band and Jenkins becomes the main creative force in the band, which sucks because they were so great with the two together.
This song is an expression of disenchantment with life. When you break down human existence to the smallest level, its just multiply and divide. He's wondering, "Is this all for nothing?" Theres also a satiric fantasy of the human race being created by extraterrestrials impregnating apes. The references to skipping records and skipping the long play are about an almighty being (God) who runs the discoteque of life from above. He expresses desires to create something as well, maybe thats the good thing he's lacking.