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.
Once upon a time I was of the mind
To lay your burden down
And leave you where you stood
And you believed I could
You'd seen it done before
I could read your thoughts
Tell you what you saw
And never say a word
Now all that is gone
Over with and done, never to return
I can tell you why
People die alone
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun
Staring at the loss
Looking for a cause
And never really sure
Nothing but a hole
To live without a soul
And nothing to be learned
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun
Shapes of every size
Move behind my eyes
Doors inside my head
Bolted from within
Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
Memory of the one
Who lives inside my skin
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Sun, sun
To lay your burden down
And leave you where you stood
And you believed I could
You'd seen it done before
I could read your thoughts
Tell you what you saw
And never say a word
Now all that is gone
Over with and done, never to return
I can tell you why
People die alone
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun
Staring at the loss
Looking for a cause
And never really sure
Nothing but a hole
To live without a soul
And nothing to be learned
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun
Shapes of every size
Move behind my eyes
Doors inside my head
Bolted from within
Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
Memory of the one
Who lives inside my skin
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun, shadow on the sun
Sun, sun
Lyrics submitted by ruben, edited by despondent, KosnSatori
Shadow on the Sun Lyrics as written by Chris Cornell Timothy Commerford
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I read through a few of these comments before I made the assumption that everyone was using Collateral as the meaning of the song, rather than the song itself. This whole "it's about a person who made themselves this way" rhetoric, which I respect as an opinion, seems to do completely miss the point of the song entirely.
This song is about a person who once could see things clearly, better than most; like we tend to see things better in daylight. However, as the lyrics say, "Now all that is gone, over with and done..." he notes that he no longer able to see things as he once did, because he's the shadow of the sun, which I feel is a poetic way of saying he's a sun-spot you can't see from earth (google for images.)
He sees the darkness that many don't, because it's him, and he's in it; an exception to the rules most people take as given. Things like "It'll get better with time" or "You'll get over it," generic things people say to make others feel better, this all does nothing to help him. It's like he's telling us, "I know what you guys thing I'm supposed to be thinking and feeling, but I'm not." Yet, as most who've ever been around friends who want us to feel better, they tend to sometimes ignore our honesty in our words and tell us just do this or just do that. Eventually, if you don't, you'll get tired of listening to them and just want to be alone - away from people who tell you should be feeling/dealing with things. "I can tell you why people die alone." They didn't bring it upon themselves, they were sorta forced into it, where they couldn't find acceptance anywhere.
The last verse:
Shapes of ever size Move behind my eyes Doors behind my eyes Bolted from within Every drop of flame Lights a candle in Memory of one Who lives inside my skin
He's talking talking about the memories and thoughts that become real within his mind, images that keeps and refuses to express or let out, because he's tired of people misinterpreting them. "Every drop of flame" is those pieces of light that do get through, do nothing but remind him of what he lost; it could be either who he used to be, before he became a shadow on the sun, or it could be a person he is no longer with... either way, that person still exists within him...