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.
Some said the local lake had been enchanted
Others said it must have been the weather
The neighbors were trying to keep it quiet
But I swear that I could hear the laughter
So they jokingly nicknamed it the porridge
Cause overnight that lake had turned as thick as butter
But the local kids would still go swimming, drinking
Saying that to them it doesn't matter
If you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath til you thought it through, you fool
The genius next door was busing tables
Wiping clean the ketchup bottle labels
Getting high and mumbling German fables
Didn't care as long as he was able
To strip his clothes off by the dumpsters
At night while everyone was sleeping
And to wade midway into that porridge
Just him and the secret he was keeping
If you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath til you thought it through, you foolish child
In the morning the film crews start arriving
With donuts, coffee and reporters
The kids were waking up hungover
The neighbors were starting up their cars
The garbageman were emptying the dumpsters
Atheists were praying full of sarcasm
And the genius next door was sleeping
Dreaming that the antidote is orgasm
If you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath til you thought it through, you foolish child!
Others said it must have been the weather
The neighbors were trying to keep it quiet
But I swear that I could hear the laughter
So they jokingly nicknamed it the porridge
Cause overnight that lake had turned as thick as butter
But the local kids would still go swimming, drinking
Saying that to them it doesn't matter
If you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath til you thought it through, you fool
The genius next door was busing tables
Wiping clean the ketchup bottle labels
Getting high and mumbling German fables
Didn't care as long as he was able
To strip his clothes off by the dumpsters
At night while everyone was sleeping
And to wade midway into that porridge
Just him and the secret he was keeping
If you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath til you thought it through, you foolish child
In the morning the film crews start arriving
With donuts, coffee and reporters
The kids were waking up hungover
The neighbors were starting up their cars
The garbageman were emptying the dumpsters
Atheists were praying full of sarcasm
And the genius next door was sleeping
Dreaming that the antidote is orgasm
If you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
Hold in your breath til you thought it through, you foolish child!
Lyrics submitted by lemonjuice
Genius Next Door Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think most of you are taking one line in the song and using it to define the entire thing.
I think the first verse is just an intro, setting the scene and introducing the lake. I think the 'porridge' line is just that the lake is scummy and I think it happened long ago because she makes it sound like the teens have been swimming in it like that for a while. The genius next door is probably a smart teenager with a high school food service job, very antisocial and secretly very depressed. I think the rest is fairly straightforward, he decides to commit suicide in the lake, which is ironic because it's the same lake that other teens hang out at a lot, but he is not part of that crowd. He goes in the middle of the night and drowns himself. I think the orgasm line may have to do with potentially having an orgasm when you drown, but that is not the focus of the song. I like the idea that maybe he was really just looking for love, and that the orgasm may relate to that if he only had found love he would have been happy.
Overall, Regina is the narrator here and she says he's a foolish child because even though he's apparently a "genius" of some sort, he really doesn't realize that there's so much more to live for.
I think the chorus is amazingly beautiful,
"If you just hold in your breath 'Til you come back up in full Hold in your breath 'Til you thought it through"
But in the end, she's just telling a story and the poor boy dies. Life goes on, and basically nobody even notices that he's gone. I think the "secret" that he might be keeping is that he's so unhappy. People may think he's so satisfied with his life being smart or something, but really he's very lonely and depressed.
I also really like the concept somebody proposed that he wanted to make a big scene, and that he just wanted to be noticed. It's sad really.
As ridiculous as some Regina songs can be I just can't see her writing a song about a porridge-like lake and meaning it is filled with sperm, in a sad story of a boy drowning himself for an orgasm. It just doesn't seem as probable as a song about suicide and a depressed teenager. But like I said, there are some strange Regina songs too, so who knows.