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.
Now I know
That I can't make you stay
But where's your heart?
But where's your heart?
But where's your...
And I know
There's nothing I can say
To change that part
To change that part
To change...
So many
Bright lights that cast a shadow
But can I speak?
Well is it hard understanding
I'm incomplete?
A life that's so demanding
I get so weak
A love that's so demanding
I can't speak
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
Can you see?
My eyes are shining bright
'Cause I'm out here on the other side
Of a jet black hotel mirror
And I'm so weak
Is it hard understanding?
I'm incomplete
A love that's so demanding
I get weak
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
These bright lights have always blinded me
These bright lights have always blinded me
I say
I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead?
(I can see, I see you lying)
'Cause I see you lying next to me
(I can see, I see you lying)
With words I thought I’d never speak
(I can see, I see you lying)
Awake and unafraid
(I can see, I see you lying)
Asleep or dead?
'Cause I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead?
'Cause I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead?
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
(Or dead)
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
(Or dead)
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
(Or dead)
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
(Or dead)
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
(Or dead)
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
That I can't make you stay
But where's your heart?
But where's your heart?
But where's your...
And I know
There's nothing I can say
To change that part
To change that part
To change...
So many
Bright lights that cast a shadow
But can I speak?
Well is it hard understanding
I'm incomplete?
A life that's so demanding
I get so weak
A love that's so demanding
I can't speak
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
Can you see?
My eyes are shining bright
'Cause I'm out here on the other side
Of a jet black hotel mirror
And I'm so weak
Is it hard understanding?
I'm incomplete
A love that's so demanding
I get weak
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
These bright lights have always blinded me
These bright lights have always blinded me
I say
I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead?
(I can see, I see you lying)
'Cause I see you lying next to me
(I can see, I see you lying)
With words I thought I’d never speak
(I can see, I see you lying)
Awake and unafraid
(I can see, I see you lying)
Asleep or dead?
'Cause I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead?
'Cause I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead?
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
(Or dead)
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
(Or dead)
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
(Or dead)
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
(Or dead)
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
(Or dead)
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
Lyrics submitted by shealerevenge, edited by SmashingDestiny
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
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
This is the conclusion. "I know I can't make you stay, (his lover) "but where's your heart? and I know there's nothing I can say to change that part.
(he can't change the way he's treated her, but he is hoping she would still take him back...)
"So many bright lights that cast a shadow, but can I speak?"
(he sees everything so much brighter now...he is so awed that he is at a loss for words.)
"Is it hard understanding I'm incomplete? A life that's so demanding I get weak"
(He's saying he's sorry for being weak, giving into his unhappiness and taking it out on her. He realizes that he's incomplete, and he wants to make it up to everyone: his father, his lover, himself...)
"All their souls are burning"
(i imagine all the members of the black parade burning in bright white light, he is seeing the beauty of it.)
"Can you see? My eyes are shining bright. I'm here on the other side of the jet black hotel mirror..."
(I see the patient's lover looking into a mirror, splashing water on her face, and he is on the other side of it, on the "other side" still with the Black Parade. He's looking at her, appreciating her for the first time, and he's saying "can't you see my eyes shining bright?" and he's happy. He's maveling at all the beautiful light.)
"I AM NOT AFRAID TO KEEP ON LIVING. I AM NOT AFRAID TO WALK THIS WORLD ALONE. Honey, if you stay I'll be forgiving....(or is it really forgiven?) Nothing you can say can stop me going home..."
(He is ready to live his life. He is no longer afraid to die, afraid of what others think about him, no longer resentful of his lover. He is appreciating life.)
"These brights lights are glowing bright as me."
(His soul is shining bright, eminating from him and making him happy, blending with the lights all around him until everything is brilliant white light...)
"I see you lying next to me With words I thought I’d never speak Awake and unfraid Asleep or dead.."
(all of a sudden, he sees her lying in bed next to him. He doesn't know if he was really dead or asleep. But he doesn't lose his chance, and wakes her up and speaks words he thought he never would. He tells her he's sorry and that he loves her.)
The chorus is repeated at the end to show that he has been given a second lease on life. He is going to appreciate it this time around. It is also there for the fans. They are telling us to live every day as if it were our last. That has always been their message for us, and here it is in song. It brings tears to my eyes. It really does make me want to appreciate everything I have.
@raine697 he says “these bright lights have always blinded me” not “these bright lights are are glowing bright as me”