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.
Inglorious
Someone out there really likes me
Given me the sight of ninety
Given me the strength of wonder
To get out of the shit I'm under
Tuned the sense to fact or fiction
Cram the truth like an addiction
Face to face with muso zeros
Hid they shyly ‘hind their ego
Stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait)
We could be anywhere, but you choose and bear
All the traits of the past so you act like you never take a shit
Fuck it up, shake it down so you're feel in deep? in need?
Inglorious, well take a back stance
Shake your face and buckle your pants
Wake and see, you're young and free and boring us
Inglorious, twenty month lease,
Anger fuelled or the justice of peace
Don't cry pain, you make no change, it's obvious - Inglorious
Make a name from constant bitching
Selling fame? Your public's listening
’member when you loved your rock stars?
Were they just as weak as you are?
Someone out there buys your vision
And carries on your blank tradition
Weaker men find weaker heroes
A weaker generation follows
Stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait)
We could be anywhere, where the future shares
Something fair, something good,
Something better than the eighties ever set
Not for cash, that'll come when the work is done, intrigued?
Inglorious, well take a back stance
Shake your face and buckle your pants
Wake and see, you're young and free and boring us
Inglorious, so make a few steps
Scare the wind out of A&R reps
Sex & sin with songs that sting in all of us - Inglorious
Go!
Sell it all in an image, cute and sweet
All the girls wanna mother you to sleep
Still I can smell your bullshit
Still I can hear all
Who will catch you when you fall? pose
Stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait)
We could be anywhere, but we choose and bear
So you quit, not the first, not the last,
There's been losers in the past
You exist in an ever-growing list of dead - inbred
Inglorious, well take a back stance
Take your place and buckle your pants
Wake and see, you're young and free and boring us
Inglorious, well maybe it's you
Music's all that'll ever get through
People tire so quickly of the glamorous
Inglorious, Inglorious
Someone out there really likes me
Given me the sight of ninety
Given me the strength of wonder
To get out of the shit I'm under
Tuned the sense to fact or fiction
Cram the truth like an addiction
Face to face with muso zeros
Hid they shyly ‘hind their ego
Stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait)
We could be anywhere, but you choose and bear
All the traits of the past so you act like you never take a shit
Fuck it up, shake it down so you're feel in deep? in need?
Inglorious, well take a back stance
Shake your face and buckle your pants
Wake and see, you're young and free and boring us
Inglorious, twenty month lease,
Anger fuelled or the justice of peace
Don't cry pain, you make no change, it's obvious - Inglorious
Make a name from constant bitching
Selling fame? Your public's listening
’member when you loved your rock stars?
Were they just as weak as you are?
Someone out there buys your vision
And carries on your blank tradition
Weaker men find weaker heroes
A weaker generation follows
Stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait)
We could be anywhere, where the future shares
Something fair, something good,
Something better than the eighties ever set
Not for cash, that'll come when the work is done, intrigued?
Inglorious, well take a back stance
Shake your face and buckle your pants
Wake and see, you're young and free and boring us
Inglorious, so make a few steps
Scare the wind out of A&R reps
Sex & sin with songs that sting in all of us - Inglorious
Go!
Sell it all in an image, cute and sweet
All the girls wanna mother you to sleep
Still I can smell your bullshit
Still I can hear all
Who will catch you when you fall? pose
Stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait), stop (wait)
We could be anywhere, but we choose and bear
So you quit, not the first, not the last,
There's been losers in the past
You exist in an ever-growing list of dead - inbred
Inglorious, well take a back stance
Take your place and buckle your pants
Wake and see, you're young and free and boring us
Inglorious, well maybe it's you
Music's all that'll ever get through
People tire so quickly of the glamorous
Inglorious, Inglorious
Lyrics submitted by iggy35
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
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
I get the feeling that this song is about how people react to you when you become famous - they are completely different, but its only a passing phase.