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.
Watch me fly away
Through the night sky yeah
Now that all you touched
Has finally turned gray
And roads can't hold us down
Winds will move us around
With no need to return
To this gray town
Want to bet I can tell
You've been in bed for too long
So let's just say so long
And I watched you at the cove
You read on rocks below
And I turned home
Without so much as hello
Want to know where I go
I've been away for too long
And it's hard to leave
When I haven't seen
You in so long
And if we had just
Held out for tomorrow
We might have seen
What seemed so far away
We didn't even bother to stay
There it goes I can tell
You're gonna to keep
Your eyes to the ground
Waiting for something
To finally come around
Tell you that you knew
That you weren't wrong
And it's finally time for so long
Through the night sky yeah
Now that all you touched
Has finally turned gray
And roads can't hold us down
Winds will move us around
With no need to return
To this gray town
Want to bet I can tell
You've been in bed for too long
So let's just say so long
And I watched you at the cove
You read on rocks below
And I turned home
Without so much as hello
Want to know where I go
I've been away for too long
And it's hard to leave
When I haven't seen
You in so long
And if we had just
Held out for tomorrow
We might have seen
What seemed so far away
We didn't even bother to stay
There it goes I can tell
You're gonna to keep
Your eyes to the ground
Waiting for something
To finally come around
Tell you that you knew
That you weren't wrong
And it's finally time for so long
Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28, edited by jefferyjxn
So Long Lyrics as written by Jenny Lewis Blake Sennett
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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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.
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ha! oh man. okay. first, ohxishxitsxdavid, i apologize for insulting you. i had the sense you were in the camp (usually the young'uns) who listen to elliott because he's soooo saaaaad and then to cut themselves to ribbons while listening to roman candle because elliott is the oooonly one who uuunderstaaands.
i was wrong. i apologize.
and i'm not an indie elitist. really. i'm not a sad little emo kid "who takes everything to heart." your facetiousness escaped me and i thought you were serious. i just went back and re-read your comment. your facetiousness still escapes me. perhaps you need to work on your internet facetiousness. or i need to work on my internet facetiousness spotting.
and i'm actually sort of flattered that someone called me an indie elitist. i went to oberlin and was never cool enough to hang with the black-clad pop-bottle-eyeglasses-wearing indie elitists who worked for the concert series and would sneer at you in their studded belts and converse all-stars as they stamped your hand for admission to shows. this is like total vicarious living via the internet. i am now an indie snob! cool!
i don't believe there are 'qualifications' to listen to his work. but i do think it takes a certain type of person to understand his work and not just chalk it up as sadness covered in depression sauce and served with a side of misery. i think you know what i mean-- how many reviews have you read that dismissed him as 'mister misery'? for example, pitchfork: "meekly mewed verses coated in thick, gloppy layers of heartbreak, lyrics hanging heavy with cold defeat, vocals seeped in doom."
right.
so, in closing: i read you wrong, i take it back, i shall summarily burn in hell for some short period of time for this. but please, don't call me a "so-called fan." cause that-- that i will take to heart.