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.
Shadows on the broad lawn canopy of trees
Sometime after midnight the ground is gonna freeze
Birds in the frosty air
What are they doing there?
Greenhouse full of butchers brooms
Breezes at my back
Sometime before the sun comes up
The earth is gonna crack
I look down at my hands
Like they were mirrors
Fresh coffee at sunrise
Warm my lips against the cup
Been waiting such a long time now
My number's finally coming up
All the neighbors come on out to their front porches
Waving torches
Sometime after midnight the ground is gonna freeze
Birds in the frosty air
What are they doing there?
Greenhouse full of butchers brooms
Breezes at my back
Sometime before the sun comes up
The earth is gonna crack
I look down at my hands
Like they were mirrors
Fresh coffee at sunrise
Warm my lips against the cup
Been waiting such a long time now
My number's finally coming up
All the neighbors come on out to their front porches
Waving torches
Lyrics submitted by mdon06
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I love this song for the imagery! And the percussion in the background is just amazing!
Birds in the frosty air What are they doing there?
Greenhouse full of butchers brooms
Serial killer, anyone? At the end of his run, about to be caught and somehow already waiting for it. Maybe because he looks at his bloody hands and realizes what a monster he has become.
John's albums are usually themed. this one is no different, and it arrived timely to my own self-destruction.
IMHO, "Get Lonely" is about the dissolution of a marriage (or the modern equivalent of). at the end of the relationship, as the couple split in two you are left with someone staying behind in the house and the other is cast out in to the world as "the bad spouse".
have none of you looked down at your hands "like they were mirrors"? you must realize at some point in your life, OMG what have i done? how did i end up here? that's also the same moment you realize that the whole neighbourhood thinks you're a monster. how could you treat so bad that she wanted you gone?
I think this song, like most of the album, is about someone who feels they are all alone in the world due to various circumstances...sometimes beyond their control, sometimes not. They are afraid of the way they see the world, and how the world sees them.
I've always thought of the album as the thoughts/events leading up to someone's suicide. In "Wild Sage" the character seems to be getting used to the idea of leaving. Whether it's leaving their house, city, life, it's not really made clear but it seems more vague. In this song, the person is reflecting on life in general with a more nihilistic lens, and wondering if leaving a set place isn't good enough.
This is off the new album right?...anyways...kool song
Mountain Goats are amazing