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.
You would invite me in on a whim
And I'd stay as long as you let me
I'd watch that smile that would stretch to your chin
When you said that you'd never forget me
It took that whole bottle for me to say
"Oh, I wish you would stay"
And I'll take all your worries away
While wondering how I'm gonna get you to quit smoking
But you stay and smile at my jokes
And my anecdotes
So I owe you now
But this road sign ain't forever
'Cause I'm saving all the love
That I'm supposed to give to Jesus
So that I can give it all to you
And the Lord's gonna be jealous
But he ain't never seen you let your hair down
And when we're dancing to the alter
The preacher won't believe us
Your mother fucking hates me
And the Lord will deceive us
But I'll still be giving it away
I'm gonna give it all to you
You come and watch me play the piano
And I'm supposed to watch your thoughts as you think
And I'm young and wrong
But your hair is long
And it's dark as the wine that we drink
Remind me of old East Bay Street
And of Friday night
Remind me you're taken
And that I am mistaken
But still to call you
When I turn 25
And when we're dancing to the alter
The preacher won't believe us
Your daddy's gonna shoot me
And the Lord will deceive us
But I'll still be giving it away
I'm gonna give it all to you
And I'd stay as long as you let me
I'd watch that smile that would stretch to your chin
When you said that you'd never forget me
It took that whole bottle for me to say
"Oh, I wish you would stay"
And I'll take all your worries away
While wondering how I'm gonna get you to quit smoking
But you stay and smile at my jokes
And my anecdotes
So I owe you now
But this road sign ain't forever
'Cause I'm saving all the love
That I'm supposed to give to Jesus
So that I can give it all to you
And the Lord's gonna be jealous
But he ain't never seen you let your hair down
And when we're dancing to the alter
The preacher won't believe us
Your mother fucking hates me
And the Lord will deceive us
But I'll still be giving it away
I'm gonna give it all to you
You come and watch me play the piano
And I'm supposed to watch your thoughts as you think
And I'm young and wrong
But your hair is long
And it's dark as the wine that we drink
Remind me of old East Bay Street
And of Friday night
Remind me you're taken
And that I am mistaken
But still to call you
When I turn 25
And when we're dancing to the alter
The preacher won't believe us
Your daddy's gonna shoot me
And the Lord will deceive us
But I'll still be giving it away
I'm gonna give it all to you
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
i adore this song. when i heard them perform it, i totally fell in love with it. and they are really nice guys as well and i talked to them for a bit. i'm so happy that they went on tour this past year
Self explanatary song. It's about a rough-around-the-edges couple (he hates that she smokes, her parents hate him) that have an amazing connection despite a lot of problems. Look this up on youtube and you'll catch a few words in between his performance--he says it is a true story, and he wasn't kidding me when he said her parents REALLY DID hate him, but that was the least of the couple's problems.
Most amazing song.
I'm in the same situation.. My fiancee's mother hates me with a passion (Has threated restraining orders, calls me the devil, the whole 9 yards) We've both tried to end it for piece of mind for the both of us, but once you've found that love.. nothing will give that peace of mind except that love.