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.
I'm pushing pins through the pavement.
I'm adding days to the week.
I feel the city sidewalk shake beneath me
While everyone sleeps.
I'm spiking Punch & Judy sendoffs
With silver dollars I stole
From Michael's dresser somewhere back in Brooklyn
While he was out digging holes.
I wrote the horse you rode in on a letter
To keep the focus off me, and make it stay there,
To keep you guessing whil the shift change splits the streets,
But I still can't sleep.
I'm adding days to the week.
I feel the city sidewalk shake beneath me
While everyone sleeps.
I'm spiking Punch & Judy sendoffs
With silver dollars I stole
From Michael's dresser somewhere back in Brooklyn
While he was out digging holes.
I wrote the horse you rode in on a letter
To keep the focus off me, and make it stay there,
To keep you guessing whil the shift change splits the streets,
But I still can't sleep.
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
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
This song, like so many of Kevin's other songs, is about drugs and the effects they have over his life. Like deadfinch said, "pushing pins through the pavement sounds like a reference to heroin. When he says "adding days to the week" he's talking about how slow the drugs have made his life become; nothings exciting anymore. And in the next lines he's describing how things in his life are falling apart and everyone around him is oblivious to that. In the next verse, he's talking about stealing money from his brother Michael to buy these drugs, but Michael didn't notice because he was out doing drugs too. I'm really not sure about the last verse, but it seems like he is trying to depict how backwards things in his life have become, and that everything going on is still affecting him.
All I know is this is an amazing song and Kevin Devine is an incredible lyricist.
His brother Michael was out doing heroin. Kevin stole money from him for his own drugs or whatever. And the last part is about focusing on his brother's drug problems while neglecting his own problems. "I wrote the horse you rode in on a letter<br /> to keep the focus off me, and make it stay there"<br /> <br /> <br /> Kind of connects with his other song "You'll Only End Up Joining THem" - where his brother tells him not to follow his path of drugs and death. <br /> <br />