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.
Death took the husband of a neighbor of mine
On a highway with a drunk at the wheel
She told me, "Keep your clean hands off the laundry he left,
And don't tell me you know how I feel."
She had a tape that he'd sent her from a Holiday Inn
That she never played much in the day.
But when I heard him say, "I love you"
Through the window at night
I just stayed the hell away.
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
So the lawyers and the prophets say
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
Gonna ever make it go away.
And now there's too much darkness
In an endless night
To be afraid of the way we feel.
Let's be kind to each other
Not forever, but for real.
My father never put his parachute on
In the Pacific back in World War Two
He said he'd rather go down in familiar flame
Than get lost in the endless blue.
Well, some of that blue got into my eyes
And we never stopped fighting that war
'Til I first understood about endlessness,
Then I loved him like never before.
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
So the lawyers and the prophets say
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
Gonna ever make it go away.
And now there's too much darkness
In an endless night
To be ashamed of the way we feel.
Let's be kind to each other
Not forever, but for real.
Lucky my daughter got her mother's nose
And just a little of her father's eyes.
And we got just enough love
That when the longing takes me,
It takes me by surprise.
I remember that longing from my highway days
When I never could give it a name.
And it's lucky I discovered in the nick of time
That the woman and the child weren't to blame
For the hole in the middle of a pretty good life
I only face it 'cause it's here to stay
Not my father nor my mother
Nor my daughter nor my lover nor the highway made it go away
But now's there too much darkness in an endless night
To be afraid of the way I feel
I'll be kind to my loved ones,
Not forever, but for real.
Some say God is lover
Some say it's an endless void
Some say both, some say She's angry
Some say, just annoyed
But if God felt a hammer in the palm of His hand
Then God knows the way we feel
And then love lasts forever, forever and for real
On a highway with a drunk at the wheel
She told me, "Keep your clean hands off the laundry he left,
And don't tell me you know how I feel."
She had a tape that he'd sent her from a Holiday Inn
That she never played much in the day.
But when I heard him say, "I love you"
Through the window at night
I just stayed the hell away.
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
So the lawyers and the prophets say
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
Gonna ever make it go away.
And now there's too much darkness
In an endless night
To be afraid of the way we feel.
Let's be kind to each other
Not forever, but for real.
My father never put his parachute on
In the Pacific back in World War Two
He said he'd rather go down in familiar flame
Than get lost in the endless blue.
Well, some of that blue got into my eyes
And we never stopped fighting that war
'Til I first understood about endlessness,
Then I loved him like never before.
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
So the lawyers and the prophets say
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
Gonna ever make it go away.
And now there's too much darkness
In an endless night
To be ashamed of the way we feel.
Let's be kind to each other
Not forever, but for real.
Lucky my daughter got her mother's nose
And just a little of her father's eyes.
And we got just enough love
That when the longing takes me,
It takes me by surprise.
I remember that longing from my highway days
When I never could give it a name.
And it's lucky I discovered in the nick of time
That the woman and the child weren't to blame
For the hole in the middle of a pretty good life
I only face it 'cause it's here to stay
Not my father nor my mother
Nor my daughter nor my lover nor the highway made it go away
But now's there too much darkness in an endless night
To be afraid of the way I feel
I'll be kind to my loved ones,
Not forever, but for real.
Some say God is lover
Some say it's an endless void
Some say both, some say She's angry
Some say, just annoyed
But if God felt a hammer in the palm of His hand
Then God knows the way we feel
And then love lasts forever, forever and for real
Lyrics submitted by UnpopularPoet
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Bob Franke wrote this song. I have heard David perform it. It is marvelous: beautiful, accurate, unflinching theology.