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.
Up out of bed all again
Make up and mirrors all again
Coffee and toast all again
You're by yourself slipping away
Take to a day all again
Get out of my way all again
You're late for work all again
Feels like this life's slipping away.
Away, Away, Away, Away, Away...
Try to catch up all again
Pray to your god all again
Nobody's home all again
Now off to war slipping away.
Sex till I'm off all again
Pay off your debts all again
Smash up your car all again
And take things too far slipping away.
Slipping away our lives.
Pick up the phone all again
Set your alarm all again
Switch on the box all again
A show about cops all again
The bread and the circus all again
Again and again all again
Come up for air,
Feels like this life's slipping away.
Away, away, away, away, away...
All again,
Slipping away our lives all again.
Slipping away our lives all again.
Much bigger than me
Much bigger then you
There's only so much we can do.
Much bigger than me
Much bigger then you
There's only so much we can do.
Slipping away,
I'm slipping away,
I'm slipipng away,
I can.
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
I can.
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been!
Slipping Away,
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been waiting
Slipping Away,
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been!
Slipping Away,
[repeat for another 3 mins]
Make up and mirrors all again
Coffee and toast all again
You're by yourself slipping away
Take to a day all again
Get out of my way all again
You're late for work all again
Feels like this life's slipping away.
Away, Away, Away, Away, Away...
Try to catch up all again
Pray to your god all again
Nobody's home all again
Now off to war slipping away.
Sex till I'm off all again
Pay off your debts all again
Smash up your car all again
And take things too far slipping away.
Slipping away our lives.
Pick up the phone all again
Set your alarm all again
Switch on the box all again
A show about cops all again
The bread and the circus all again
Again and again all again
Come up for air,
Feels like this life's slipping away.
Away, away, away, away, away...
All again,
Slipping away our lives all again.
Slipping away our lives all again.
Much bigger than me
Much bigger then you
There's only so much we can do.
Much bigger than me
Much bigger then you
There's only so much we can do.
Slipping away,
I'm slipping away,
I'm slipipng away,
I can.
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
I can.
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
Slipping away,
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been!
Slipping Away,
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been waiting
Slipping Away,
So long I've been waiting
So long I've been!
Slipping Away,
[repeat for another 3 mins]
Lyrics submitted by Ethereal Butterfly
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Light Up The Sky
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
The song sums up "The New Normal". It's about pointing out the elephant in the room - that people lead monotonous, repetitive and unfulfilling lives, that we are distracted by bread, circuses and shows about cops, that we are too stuck to do anything other than gape and watch our lives slip away into banality. I remember listening to this song on my way to my photocopying job. Oh the resonance!
@nobalancepalace definitely agree that the title is in reference to the phrase "the elephant in the room" ... it pretty much is the old "let's talk about the elephant in the room" (in other words the "real" / obvious issue)
i really like this song! i think it's generally about how our lives are just 'slipping away' so quickly and how things are so repetitive - how after everything he does it says 'all again', as if he's done it a million times before. it could be saying that he feels kind of stuck and cant move forwards.