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.
I had ducked out of the rain
Into Maria's wedding day
And I sat there with her friends
And with her family
And I was happy
I wasn't someone they'd invite
And I didn't know the groom
Nor know the bride
But when I stood next to her brother
For the photograph
He was laughing
Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera
Sure, I've got pictures of my own
Of the people and the places that I've known
Here's one: I'm carrying your suitcase
Outside of Alphabet City
But in someone else's life
Where Maria is a wife
I'm on the mantle in the corner of the photograph
Smiling pretty
Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera
Are you tired of where you've gone?
And you think you might belong
In a moment when you step out of the rain?
And you've ended up in someone else's frame?
And their memory now is never quite the same
And they never even asked your name
Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera
Into Maria's wedding day
And I sat there with her friends
And with her family
And I was happy
I wasn't someone they'd invite
And I didn't know the groom
Nor know the bride
But when I stood next to her brother
For the photograph
He was laughing
Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera
Sure, I've got pictures of my own
Of the people and the places that I've known
Here's one: I'm carrying your suitcase
Outside of Alphabet City
But in someone else's life
Where Maria is a wife
I'm on the mantle in the corner of the photograph
Smiling pretty
Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera
Are you tired of where you've gone?
And you think you might belong
In a moment when you step out of the rain?
And you've ended up in someone else's frame?
And their memory now is never quite the same
And they never even asked your name
Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera
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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.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
this song makes me happy.
the idea of being captured randomly happy in someone elses life is nice.