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.
By the dried up stream
We slit our throats and dreamed
But when the building's burned
Was there some concerned
Mother laid in bed
What was it she said?
Gather all your worldly jewels
And scatter them like fools
Don't you make a fuss
Days so perilous
When day is done we'll ride
Who cares what we find
Another misspent night
We thought we got it right
The driver lost a wheel
The ice turned into steel
They shivered like refugees
Way down on our knees
By the dried up stream
We slit our throats and dreamed
But when the building's burned
Was there some concerned
Mother laid in bed
We slit our throats and dreamed
But when the building's burned
Was there some concerned
Mother laid in bed
What was it she said?
Gather all your worldly jewels
And scatter them like fools
Don't you make a fuss
Days so perilous
When day is done we'll ride
Who cares what we find
Another misspent night
We thought we got it right
The driver lost a wheel
The ice turned into steel
They shivered like refugees
Way down on our knees
By the dried up stream
We slit our throats and dreamed
But when the building's burned
Was there some concerned
Mother laid in bed
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For me this song has something to do with some tragic car accident. A group of friends were coming back from partying disappointed by the fact that nothing really cool happened into what it was expected to be a great partying night:
"When day is done we'll ride Who cares what we find Another misspent night We thought we got it right"
It was really cold out there and suddenly the accident happened : "The driver lost a wheel The ice turned into steel"
Some of the guys or girls in the car, died in the accident in the hands of the survivors: "They shivered like refugees Way down on our knees"
With all the tragedy, the survivors - the narrator is one of them - just lay beside the wrecked car. Apparently they hit a house that caught fire and are wondering wether there was someone in the house who got injured: "But when the building's burned Was there some concerned"
I guess that the mother who lays in bed, is precisely someone who was sleeping in the house and that got awaken by the sound of the crash. Or maybe she's the mother of someone involved in the accident and suddenly felt that something terrible happened: "Mother laid in bed What was it she said?"
What I really don't get, is the "we slit our throats"... maybe the survivors decided to kill themselves and die like the rest of their fiends... "By the dried up stram We slit our throats and dreamed"
Finally there's this last paragraph: "Gather all your worldly jewels And scatter them like fools Don't you make a fuss Days so perilous"
That I interpret as : don't always save your stuff for the future, 'cause each day is so perilous, that you had better live if like if it was the last one, so spend your money while you can (scatter you jewels like a fool).