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.
Cast the calming apple
Up and over satellites
To draw out the timid wild one
To convince you it's alright
And I listen for the whisper
Of your sweet insanity
While I formulate denials
Of your effect on me
You're a stranger
So what do I care?
You vanish today
Not the first time I hear
All the lies
What am I to do with all this silence?
Shy away, shy away phantom
Run away, terrified child
Won't you move away, you fuckin' tornado
I'm better off without you
Tearing my will down
Up and over satellites
To draw out the timid wild one
To convince you it's alright
And I listen for the whisper
Of your sweet insanity
While I formulate denials
Of your effect on me
You're a stranger
So what do I care?
You vanish today
Not the first time I hear
All the lies
What am I to do with all this silence?
Shy away, shy away phantom
Run away, terrified child
Won't you move away, you fuckin' tornado
I'm better off without you
Tearing my will down
Lyrics submitted by ObsessiveTendencies, edited by Serspring
A Stranger Lyrics as written by William L. Howerdel Maynard James Keenan
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It's fine to have varying interpretations, and if you want to believe that this song is about a relationship, or that he says tomato, or that this is from the perspective of a drug dealer, thats your prerogative.
My interpretation, however, is as follows:
Thirteenth Step is about addiction. It's not necessarily addiction to drugs, it could be an addiction to ANYTHING. That said, this song is being sung from the perspective of someone who has decided to conquer their addiction.
The stranger is themself. This is very difficult for someone who has never been addicted to something to understand. The stranger is the addiction, and the addiction is themselves. It's one in the same.
What I mean is that the person singing this song has decided to end their addiction, and can now see the person who they were, and it is a complete stranger to them. It's a controlled puppet version of themself.
This is a person who is aware that their addiction is ruining their life, and is in the beginning stages of STOPPING the addiction altogether. I'll explain line by line:
"Cast the calming apple Up and over satellites To draw out the timid wild one"
Apple imagery is used repeatedly on this album. Perhaps this is the apple from the garden of eden? Using this logic he is taking the apple - which is a symbol of the downfall of man and evil (JUST LIKE ADDICTION) and he's tossing it away - he's throwing it as far away as possible... throwing something over a satellite is a pretty damn long distance. So he's casting out his addiction. For example, he has stopped using drugs. "To draw out the timid wild one" - basically to get rid of the addict inside him.
The next couple lines:
"To convince you it's alright And I listen for the whisper Of your sweet insanity while I formulate Denials of your effect on me"
This is the part that a true addict will understand and it reinforces my interpretation. "the whisper" is the little voice in the back of your head that tells you to give in to your addiction. It is as if your soul is telling you its okay to give into the addiction and continue doing drugs or whatever without question. Believe me, it's there, and an addict trusts this voice because it is themself. It's an extremely difficult voice to say no to, more difficult than any peer pressure. He's coming up with ways to deny that the drug is effecting him so that when the voice comes to tempt him, he can give into it and not feel like he has to fight it. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART OF OVERCOMING ADDICTION!!! Your will power has to be stronger than your desire to feed the addiction, and it's very draining. its a constant internal fight!
"You're a stranger So what do i care You vanish today Not the first time I hear"
The tense remains the same, the "you" is still the addiction, its still that voice in his head that I was talking about. Again he's trying to justify or find a way to continue feeding the addiction. Addicts do this!
The purpose these couple lines serve, and the title of the song, is to show just how powerful and how controlling addictions are. You're not really me, what do I care anyway, you'll leave me when the effects wear off...you'll leave and I can quit later.
But he's fighting this...he's determined to quit....
"What am I to do with all this silence?"
There is a big void in your life, a big silence, when you remove an addiction. Its like losing a loved one; suddenly one of the most important things in your life is just gone! This is probably the most emotionally moving line on the entire album.
"Shy away, shy away phantom Run away terrified child Won't you move away you fuckin tornado I'm better off without you Tearing my will down "
His will to stop the addiction is speaking here. He's saying that the tornado - which is the addiction thats been ripping up his life needs to "fuckin" move away! He knows he's better off without it, and he knows that it's trying to defeat his will to quit.
Again, the hardest part about overcoming addiction is fighting your internal desire to continue and feed it. I think that people who aren't addicts and can't understand this underestimate how powerful it is and how difficult it is to overcome. I have never been addicted to hardcore drugs, but I was a smoker for 5 years, and I know what these feelings are like.
This is my favorite song on the album.
By far best interpretation here. Licensed counselor familiar with addiction gives his seal of approval.