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.
Late on a Friday, my husband went up
To the mountains with three friends
They took provisions and bottles of bourbon
To last them all through the weekend
One hundred miles they drove
Just to fish in a stream
And there's so much water, so close to home
When they arrived, it was cold and dark
They set up their camp quickly
Warmed up with whiskey, they walked to the river
Where the water flowed past darkly
In the moonlight they saw the body
Of a girl floating face down
And there's so much water, so close to home
When he holds me now, I'm pretending
I feel like I'm frozen inside
And behind my eyes, my daily disguise
Everything's turning to white
It was too hard to tell how long she'd been dead
The river was that close to freezing
But one thing for sure
The girl hadn't died very well to judge from the bruising
They stood there above her all thinking
The same thoughts at the same time
There's so much water, so close to home
So this is what they did
They carried her downstream from their fishing
Between two smooth rocks, they gently wedged her
After all, it was late, and they'd come a long way
The girl would keep, she was going nowhere
They stayed up there fishing for two days
They reported it on Sunday when they came back down
There's so much water, so close to home
When he holds me now, I'm pretending
Nothing is working inside
And behind my eyes, my daily disguise
Everything's turning to white
The newspapers said that the girl had been strangled
To death and also molested
On the day of the funeral the radio reported
That a young man had been arrested
I went to the service a stranger
I drove past the lake out of town
There's so much water, so close to home
When he holds me now I'm pretending
I feel like I'm frozen inside
And behind my eyes, my daily disguise
Everything's turning to white
To the mountains with three friends
They took provisions and bottles of bourbon
To last them all through the weekend
One hundred miles they drove
Just to fish in a stream
And there's so much water, so close to home
When they arrived, it was cold and dark
They set up their camp quickly
Warmed up with whiskey, they walked to the river
Where the water flowed past darkly
In the moonlight they saw the body
Of a girl floating face down
And there's so much water, so close to home
When he holds me now, I'm pretending
I feel like I'm frozen inside
And behind my eyes, my daily disguise
Everything's turning to white
It was too hard to tell how long she'd been dead
The river was that close to freezing
But one thing for sure
The girl hadn't died very well to judge from the bruising
They stood there above her all thinking
The same thoughts at the same time
There's so much water, so close to home
So this is what they did
They carried her downstream from their fishing
Between two smooth rocks, they gently wedged her
After all, it was late, and they'd come a long way
The girl would keep, she was going nowhere
They stayed up there fishing for two days
They reported it on Sunday when they came back down
There's so much water, so close to home
When he holds me now, I'm pretending
Nothing is working inside
And behind my eyes, my daily disguise
Everything's turning to white
The newspapers said that the girl had been strangled
To death and also molested
On the day of the funeral the radio reported
That a young man had been arrested
I went to the service a stranger
I drove past the lake out of town
There's so much water, so close to home
When he holds me now I'm pretending
I feel like I'm frozen inside
And behind my eyes, my daily disguise
Everything's turning to white
Lyrics submitted by thunderball
Everything's Turning to White Lyrics as written by Paul Maurice Kelly
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It sounds like it's about the movie Jindabyne which is about a young aboriginal girl being murdered and these three mates go on a fishing trip and find her body but instead of reporting it they just stay there and fish then tell the cops when they get home. The song sounds like its about the wifes perspective and how she can't believe they did that.