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.
Hear your heartbeat
Beat a frantic pace
And it's not even seven AM
You're feeling the rush
of anguish settling
You cannot help showing them in.
Hurry up then
Or you'll fall behind and
They will take control of you
And you need to heal
The hurt behind your eyes
Fickle words crowding your mind
So
Sleep, sugar, let your dreams flood in,
Like waves of sweet fire, you're safe within
Sleep, sweetie, let your floods come rushing in,
And carry you over to a new morning
Try as you might
You try to give it up
Seems to be holding on fast
It's hand in your hand
A shadow over your
A beggar for soul in your face
Still it don't matter
If you won't listen
If you won't let them follow you
You just need to heal
Make good all your lies
Move on and don't look behind
Day after day
Fickle visions
Messing with your head
Fickle, vicious
Sleeping in your bed
Messing with your head
Fickle visions
Fickle, vicious
Beat a frantic pace
And it's not even seven AM
You're feeling the rush
of anguish settling
You cannot help showing them in.
Hurry up then
Or you'll fall behind and
They will take control of you
And you need to heal
The hurt behind your eyes
Fickle words crowding your mind
So
Sleep, sugar, let your dreams flood in,
Like waves of sweet fire, you're safe within
Sleep, sweetie, let your floods come rushing in,
And carry you over to a new morning
Try as you might
You try to give it up
Seems to be holding on fast
It's hand in your hand
A shadow over your
A beggar for soul in your face
Still it don't matter
If you won't listen
If you won't let them follow you
You just need to heal
Make good all your lies
Move on and don't look behind
Day after day
Fickle visions
Messing with your head
Fickle, vicious
Sleeping in your bed
Messing with your head
Fickle visions
Fickle, vicious
Lyrics submitted by bazmeg
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This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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This makes me think a lot about my own life, but I'm not going to get into specifics. I first heard it on my internet radio and the first few notes literally made me cry. Very first song I heard by PotF. Love it. <3 As much as it makes me think of my past, it gives me hope. It reminds me that that is my past and that I have a future. My future doesn't need to be like my past.
"You just need to heal Make good all your lies Move on and don't look behind"
Not meaning to go on about me, but maybe someone else feels the same?
~Tsual
@Tsual I feel that a lot. My boyfriend is a PotF fan, and he'd shown me some of their songs. Logged onto pandora, put in the band, and this popped up. Fell in love with it instantly because it made me feel hopeful and reminds me both metaphorically and literally of some struggles I've had. Beautiful song.
While this song does impact me and I see ways it mirrors my own life. I figured I would give it a go at figuring out the meaning of it.
Hear your heartbeat Beat a frantic pace And it's not even seven AM
The heart only beats frantically in a very few emotional states. These are mostly excitement and fear. Given that its not even seven AM, It rules out excitement leaving fear.
You're feeling the rush of anguish settling You cannot help showing them in.
This shows someone who has been hurt in the past. Again its a rush. Fear causing adrenaline to pump and it settles in. The person can't deal with what they have been through so they can't help allowing the memories in.
Hurry up then Or you'll fall behind and They will take control of you
This I agree with Camikaza on. It has to do with the drepression taking control.
And you need to heal The hurt behind your eyes Fickle words crowding your mind
Some believe that the eyes are the window to the soul. Behind them would be a wounded soul. Fickle means to change constantly. So the mind would be racing over things at this point.
So Sleep, sugar, let your dreams flood in, Like waves of sweet fire, you're safe within Sleep, sweetie, let your floods come rushing in, And carry you over to a new morning
This in my opinion is a person trying to console someone who is going through this nightmare situation. They are encouraging the person to sleep and rest. The last line though I think holds some religious overtones, Though the darkness may last for the night, joy comes with the morning.
Try as you might You try to give it up Seems to be holding on fast
Here the person is trying to let go of the things that haunt her night. Its not something easy to do and it doesn't let go.
It's hand in your hand A shadow over your A beggar for soul in your face
At this point, the person is feeling hopeless. It feels as though death itself has taken them by the hand and its seen all over them.
Still it don't matter If you won't listen If you won't let it follow you
If the person would stop listening to the things that are bothering them, they could be free of it.
You just need to heal Make good all your lies Move on and don't look behind
The first part is simple. you just need to heal. Not really much deep with that. The next line though, Make good all your lies. This is very deep. Its second nature to say they are good or fine when asked how they are. We hide what we are really feeling. In essence we lie. The last line is saying to keep moving forward and don't look at where you have been.
Day after day Fickle visions Messing with your head Fickle, vicious Sleeping in your bed Messing with your head Fickle visions Fickle, visions
This is showing that what is happening isn't the first time it has. Its happened many times before.
Anyway, this is what I gleened from this. Its a really good song regardless.
It sounds like Hope - hope for the morning to come, for all evil to stay behind. Besides, I am just P.O.F.'s fan
This song always reminds me of Silent Hill, though I'm almost sure it wasn't in the movie. Probably just a similar melody or the creepy overtones... Still, great and slightly disturbing song.
I believe that the song is almost telling you about someone who was... ready to give up on life.
"It's hand in your hand A shadow over you"
Grim Reaper? A shadow meaning you've lost hope and are overclouded by death. That's just what I believe it means. That you just need to time to heal.
i just started listening to poets of the fall.. this is the one i got stuck at lately, and somehow it reminds me of the book "new moon" of the twilight saga. edward singing to bella.. tell me if anyone else feels the same :)
(yes i know, i'm one of "those" girls, that got stuck on the books.. but really, the books are great. the movie on the other hand sucks pretty bad.. hoping next will turn out better..)
Hmm, you have an interesting and valid opinion but somehow I can't really relate this song to New Moon. Maybe I am reluctant to see a connection because of what happened to Muse (they were, and are, one of my favourite bands) after the Twilight movie came out. All the Twilight fans (the majority being young girls) suddenly made Muse their ‘favourite’ band just because the song Supermassive Black Hole was in the movie; great for the band in terms of publicity I guess -shrugs-. It’s just frustrating and sad that the depth and beauty of the song is lost when this happens, and I think that was why so many hardcore Muse fans were upset. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the Twilight saga is quite superficial and mediocre in terms of depth (I am not complaining, I do enjoy reading the books) and I like to think that Muse, and also Poets of the Fall, are greater than that; with their songs, the meanings and the music in general.<br /> <br /> Sorry, I went slightly off track about Muse, but it helped me make my point (:
I think this song is definitely talking about mentality. Someone’s state of mind or an internal unsettling, possibly an addiction of some sort. The meaning works with a drug addiction; “you cannot help showing them in”, “they will take control of you”, “try as you might, you try to give it up”. I have found it hard to interpret this song, and I think I am still fumbling around in the dark in terms of meanings xD (the other comments have given me more of an insight though (: ) Personally, I don’t think this is one of Poets’ best songs. The piano is amazing, and Marko’s voice is soothing and mellow, but I think it is slightly lacking something.
Personally....I think it's indeed about someone's past...
You're feeling the rush of anguish settling You cannot help showing them in.
To me it is as if you're waking up a day, feeling down and already feeling the depressed feelings weighing upon your shoulders, and even though you know it's bad, you can't help but to give in to them...
Hurry up then Or you'll fall behind and They will take control of you
Here it's like the singer is telling the other that if you don't 'fight' against them or something, those feelings will take control of you, resulting in a person getting depressed.
And you need to heal The hurt behind your eyes Fickle words crowding your mind
This made me think of someone with a severe inferiority complex; every time you look into the mirror, it hurts to see yourself and words like 'ugly' 'fat' or something like that pop into your mind...
....Then again, this is only my way of seeing things ^^"
I agree with Tsual. this potf song moves me a lot. one of the best song of potf
I realy don't know why but this song makes me feel it's about a person who's been in war, as a soldier or maybe just been a child in the area where a war has taken place. And now he's a grown up but the awful memories keep coming to him, bothering his sleep and thoughts, I feel this way mostly in these parts:
Hurry up then Or you'll behind and They will take control of you
It's referring to bad memories coming and take control of his mind.
It's hand in your hand A shadow over you
It's how memories are a part of you, you can't escape them.
I'm probably wrong, but it's just how I felt about this song!:) By the way I looove it!