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.
(the wind… the wind…)
Sister sits on the steps
Cigarette rests on fingertips
Takes a sip of slow death deathly through her lips,
She blows a kiss
Which I can only resist in vain
She got the gift of gravity pulling to ask her name
She says Sagaba
What’s it mean – she says in Ilocano
it translates into suffering
I’m pondering the irony to conjure up the fearlessness to find a conversation
She offers me a square, I decline the invitation
It reminds me of the days when I would chain smoke
Broken with no hope
Like broken like the manner she spoke
We both
Two people seeking
Solace and remembrance
And wondering if miracles were meant for us
But intent was just an innocent thought between a sister and a brother
Who been building in the guidance of a mother
And the storyteller stops
Waiting for the beat to drop
Gathering his thoughts in the wind, breathing in like…
Now
I couldn’t stand to see the queen breathe her dreams away
And tell me her tomorrow will never become today
I say I used to know a woman just like you,
Beautiful but jaded by the multitude of men who’d often try to
Justify their lies with twisted notions of survival
And hide behind their armor when karma completes a cycle
She replied
That just because I knew a woman well it doesn’t mean I know them all
She begins to bade farewell
Eyes up to the sky, she sighs, I need nobody
True indeed, sister, but you still need everybody because
We hardly know ourselves if we know nobody else
And only in our loneliness can home become a hell
Exhale
The cloud in the loudest form of silence
Watches as it rises like suns over horizons
The storyteller stops
Waiting for the beat to drop
Gathering his thoughts in the cloud, breathing out like…
Dreams be the ashes
Burns and thrashing in the wind
Flying out the burning bush attached to sister’s hand
Who whispers “word”
Smiling and giving thanks, living in doubt no longer
As she figures out the riddle to the song
Saying why must we suffer now and not suffer later if later
Never comes soon enough to soothe the hatred
And hatred
Is the cancer born ____ of love’s absence
And the absence is the void left from missing every chance to
Challenge our fates and perhaps our very names
Sister says peace and prayers for rain and change
Tosses out her lighter
Walks out of the cipher
For shizzle it starts to drizzle and then I begin to write this
Inhale the imagery – a queen walking steadily
Effortlessly
Ready to be
Every woman and now the
Story teller ends
Waiting for the beat to fade
Gathering his thought near the edge of the day like…
Sister sits on the steps
Cigarette rests on fingertips
Takes a sip of slow death deathly through her lips,
She blows a kiss
Which I can only resist in vain
She got the gift of gravity pulling to ask her name
She says Sagaba
What’s it mean – she says in Ilocano
it translates into suffering
I’m pondering the irony to conjure up the fearlessness to find a conversation
She offers me a square, I decline the invitation
It reminds me of the days when I would chain smoke
Broken with no hope
Like broken like the manner she spoke
We both
Two people seeking
Solace and remembrance
And wondering if miracles were meant for us
But intent was just an innocent thought between a sister and a brother
Who been building in the guidance of a mother
And the storyteller stops
Waiting for the beat to drop
Gathering his thoughts in the wind, breathing in like…
Now
I couldn’t stand to see the queen breathe her dreams away
And tell me her tomorrow will never become today
I say I used to know a woman just like you,
Beautiful but jaded by the multitude of men who’d often try to
Justify their lies with twisted notions of survival
And hide behind their armor when karma completes a cycle
She replied
That just because I knew a woman well it doesn’t mean I know them all
She begins to bade farewell
Eyes up to the sky, she sighs, I need nobody
True indeed, sister, but you still need everybody because
We hardly know ourselves if we know nobody else
And only in our loneliness can home become a hell
Exhale
The cloud in the loudest form of silence
Watches as it rises like suns over horizons
The storyteller stops
Waiting for the beat to drop
Gathering his thoughts in the cloud, breathing out like…
Dreams be the ashes
Burns and thrashing in the wind
Flying out the burning bush attached to sister’s hand
Who whispers “word”
Smiling and giving thanks, living in doubt no longer
As she figures out the riddle to the song
Saying why must we suffer now and not suffer later if later
Never comes soon enough to soothe the hatred
And hatred
Is the cancer born ____ of love’s absence
And the absence is the void left from missing every chance to
Challenge our fates and perhaps our very names
Sister says peace and prayers for rain and change
Tosses out her lighter
Walks out of the cipher
For shizzle it starts to drizzle and then I begin to write this
Inhale the imagery – a queen walking steadily
Effortlessly
Ready to be
Every woman and now the
Story teller ends
Waiting for the beat to fade
Gathering his thought near the edge of the day like…
Lyrics submitted by galaxian
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
it's about the conversation Geo and a girl named "Sagaba" i really love this song, the beat and his flow is just so tight. And the imagery he uses too the "burning bush" is more than likely the cigarette Sagaba is smoking
Geo told my sis that it was about smoking weed or something like that. I'm guessin' its an introspective view when he was high. Tight song though.
Is the cancer born ____ of love’s absence
Isn't it the cancer born out of love's absence? It sounds kind of weird, but that's what I hear, and it makes sense
I think in the line, "Takes a sip of slow death deathly through her lips," deathly should be replaced with "deftly." You can't really tell by listening but it makes more sense to me.
"She offers me a square, I decline the invitation"
what does this sentence mean?
"Square" is a term for cigarette.
i think one of the lines toward the end is pretty inspiring.
"challenge our fates and perhaps our very names."
He's refering to Sagaba (meaning suffering) and how even if your life seems to be trapped in suffering, you should take an opportunity to challenge that suffering or else you'll be victimized by suffering (say suffering again). Basically if you let world suffering or any personal demons beat up you, you'll only be filled with hatred.
I could be wrong, but after listening to this track several hundred times it really sounds like "Sister/Sagaba" is a metaphor for Geo's problems with his past and the song is about overcoming his "cancer" in life. This definitely supports the "introspective" view. Hands down my favorite song of all time. It is a beautiful song.
interesting perspective. It's been over two years now since I commented, even lnger since first heard this song and I still get new perspectives everytime. The riddle of the meaning behind this song is weaved in a way to really make you think. <br /> <br /> "Now<br /> I couldn’t stand to see the queen breathe her dreams away<br /> And tell me her tomorrow will never become today<br /> I say I used to know a woman just like you,<br /> Beautiful but jaded by the multitude of men who’d often try to<br /> Justify their lies with twisted notions of survival<br /> And hide behind their armor when karma completes a cycle"<br /> <br /> True, this can have references to his past as he even mentions, but I now believe he also used the name Sagaba for a deeper reason other than him being Filipino. Sagaba can be the Philippines in itself. It's beautiful, but it's jaded by foreign influence. During the colonial times (both Spanish and American), there were numerous attempts by the enslaved natives to free their brethren from the foreign oppressors. Now, some odd hundred years later, while the both the Spanish and Americans have left (more recently the Americans) we aren't exactly free yet. Our "tomorrow" isn't here at all because the notion of Western Superiority still cripples the country in a way and the natives who feel inferior because of their ways suffer in the end.<br /> <br /> I mean, the Westernization of foreign countries is a pretty twisted notion of survival if you pay close attention to it.