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 off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Well, I've never seen us act like this
Our only hope is the minds of kids
And they'll show us a thing or two
Our only weapons are the guns of youth
It's only time before they tighten the noose
And then the hunt will be on for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no
The red flag waving never meant the same
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like the smallest bee packs a sting
Like a pawn checkmates a king
We'll attack at the crack of dawn
Build a ladder if there's a wall
Don't be afraid to slip and fall
Speak for yourself or they'll speak for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like a fire
Don't need water
Like a jury
Needs a liar
Like a riot
Don't need order
Like a madman
Needs a martyr
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday (we don't need them, we don't need them)
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The red flag waving never meant the same (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The kids of tomorrow don't need today (we don't need them, we don't need them)
When they live in the sins of yesterday
We don't need them!
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Well, I've never seen us act like this
Our only hope is the minds of kids
And they'll show us a thing or two
Our only weapons are the guns of youth
It's only time before they tighten the noose
And then the hunt will be on for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no
The red flag waving never meant the same
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like the smallest bee packs a sting
Like a pawn checkmates a king
We'll attack at the crack of dawn
Build a ladder if there's a wall
Don't be afraid to slip and fall
Speak for yourself or they'll speak for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like a fire
Don't need water
Like a jury
Needs a liar
Like a riot
Don't need order
Like a madman
Needs a martyr
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday (we don't need them, we don't need them)
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The red flag waving never meant the same (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The kids of tomorrow don't need today (we don't need them, we don't need them)
When they live in the sins of yesterday
We don't need them!
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Great version of a great song,
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Heres my thoughts for what this means... its now 1:12am. This seems like a very political song, if its a sign of what the whole next album is gonna be it's going to be the 2nd album i really buy,,, after buying one named "Billy Talent".
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain ---This probably means to remove the fake illusions people receive that blinds them from the truth
the red flag waving never meant the same ---I needed help for this so i quoted what i found on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag "... "waving a red flag" is a euphemism for incitement [...] red is the "color of defiance" [...]" The kids of tommorow don't need today ---The kids of tomorrow are "your" future children
when they live in the sins of yesterday ---They wont be able to start fresh and will be forced to live from "our" mistakes. For example, the polluting of the air, destroying the ocean beds, overcutting of trees, etc.
(end chorus) -- Not real lyrics :p j/k
Well I've never seen us act like this Our only hope is the minds of kids And they'll show us a thing or two ---This whole paragraph basically says that hopefully they ("our kids") wont be like us and will be more concienscious (i'm french canadian so forgive my spelling) and not follow in our footsteps of war and destruction.
Our only weapons are the guns of youth ---Meaning most people cant see whats happening so "our" only chance is "our" children.
It's only time before they tighten the noose ---Meaning "we" will have to stop our excesses and the noose in this probably presents the liberties "we" take in regards to nature and violence. The only question is how long will it take before that is done.
And then the hunt will be on for you ---"we" will be the ones blamed for "their" conditions of life.
We don't need them ---My favorite line - This means we should be the ones taking action and change the ways our "elders" are leading us into.
(chorus) --- I have a spanking fetish, feel free to add me to ur msn by clicking on my profile. No males plz, i'm straight.
Like the smallest bee packs a sting ---Although bees are small they can still hurt, so can the youth. (which is a minority in north america due to declining birth rates)
Like the pawn checkmates a king ---Being a chess player myself, i could speak about this a lot. In chess, pawns often decide the outcome of the game, even though every other piece is "stronger", but by mating the king, you win, no matter the strength of the other pieces left on the board. So the meaning of this is that if you attack the source of the problem, you can fix it. (here's a quote: "Chess is like life" - Boris Spassky -> Do your own research on the subject if u wish)
We'll attack at the crack of dawn ---This probably meaning that when it's time, the attack will be relentless.
Build a ladder if there's a wall ---This means that there will be obstacles that will need to be crossed and to just overcome them.
Don't be afraid to slip and fall ---This means that you will make mistakes too, so dont be afraid to make them so that way, if u do, you can always correct them. Could also mean to just not show ur scared.
Speak for yourself or they'll speak for you ---This is about the politicians, if you dont stand up for what u want, theyll do what they want. A good example of standing up for urself would be the college/university student strike that took place in 2005 in the province of quebec over a 103million dollar cut the government was wanting to do in the "financial help for students" system.
We don't need them ---Deja-vu... im pretty sure i saw this before, read up.
(chorus) --Again, go up to the very top if u forgot what i think the chorus meant, and make a new post to share ur ideas.
Light a fire There'll be water ---Fires will be extinguished. Like a jury Needs a liar ---Jury's decide who lies based on evidence presented. Like a riot Turning over ---People rioting need to think out their things if they want to win. Turning over here is used in the sense of "thinking carefully" or in the sense of "rotating around a center" where in that sense, it would mean the riot needs to have a centre point (a focus point).
Like a madman Needs a martyr ---Without the martyr, hes not a madman yet
We don't need them (x8 ) --Why not?
(chorusx5) --I'm actually looking up stuff to write this whole thing... its 1:36 am atm.
We don't need them (x17) --We do, if not for them, how could we know the problems that need fixing. And we will need the youth in the future too, today's society is a bunch of pussies.