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.
When I saw him last
he had that look in his eyes
I said, "Do you need to talk?"
he said, "No."
So I called him up, asked him again and I waited a while -
he began to speak, then he started to cry
You know some things are best left unspoken
and some things just never work out
and sometimes, seems you try and you try and whatever you do
There's a fix that you're in, and you just can't get out
he said, "I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on"
Though I didn't know what
I knew that something was wrong
but he still had his pride
he'd tell me in time
Well this feeling inside
kept eating at me
I was losing a friend, and I had to know why
When I heard the voice on the phone, I knew it was bad news
so I rushed to be by his side
and we said goodbye for the last time
I gently hugged him, and kissed him goodbye
he whispered, "I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on."
We were always laughing
I just remember laughing, mama
We were always laughing
Oh I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on
Though as time goes by, and it all becomes clear
we can see the deceit, we see the lies
So I asked myself, over and over, and over again
What did they know? What did they hide?
Fools, leading the innocent blindly
Fools, turning away
And I know that
when I think of my friend with that look in his eyes
and if they told the truth, he might be here today
I need your help, I need it now
Just give me the strength to go on, on
I remember the laughing
We were always laughing
Oh no - it's just strength we need now
Just the strength to go on...
he had that look in his eyes
I said, "Do you need to talk?"
he said, "No."
So I called him up, asked him again and I waited a while -
he began to speak, then he started to cry
You know some things are best left unspoken
and some things just never work out
and sometimes, seems you try and you try and whatever you do
There's a fix that you're in, and you just can't get out
he said, "I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on"
Though I didn't know what
I knew that something was wrong
but he still had his pride
he'd tell me in time
Well this feeling inside
kept eating at me
I was losing a friend, and I had to know why
When I heard the voice on the phone, I knew it was bad news
so I rushed to be by his side
and we said goodbye for the last time
I gently hugged him, and kissed him goodbye
he whispered, "I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on."
We were always laughing
I just remember laughing, mama
We were always laughing
Oh I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on
Though as time goes by, and it all becomes clear
we can see the deceit, we see the lies
So I asked myself, over and over, and over again
What did they know? What did they hide?
Fools, leading the innocent blindly
Fools, turning away
And I know that
when I think of my friend with that look in his eyes
and if they told the truth, he might be here today
I need your help, I need it now
Just give me the strength to go on, on
I remember the laughing
We were always laughing
Oh no - it's just strength we need now
Just the strength to go on...
Lyrics submitted by orangecrush
For A Friend Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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According to collins himself - It's about a friend dying in aids, but he doesn't remember which one :-O