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 keep tellin' myself that it'll be fine
You can't make everybody happy all of the time
But I found myself in a place that I've never been
A place that I thought that I would never be
There's people looking back at me
I keep having this dream, I'm at a party
There's people throwing drinks
And screaming,telling me that I don't belong
Lately life's been the same
I find this comfortable place
With all my friends
And then my friends start telling me
That I've always been wrong
And I'm so tired of being wrong
There was a time I could move
There was a time I could breathe
The crowded spaces filled with angry faces
It didn't once cross my mind
With paranoia on my heels
Will you love me still
When we awake and you find that the sanity is gone from my eyes?
(Yeah)
I got secrets from you, you've got secrets from me
Because you're so worried about what I'm gonna to think
Baby, I'm worried, too
But if love is a game, girl, then you're gonna win
I'll spend the rest of my life bringing victory in
If you want me to (yeah)
(Yeah)
You can't make everybody happy all of the time
But I found myself in a place that I've never been
A place that I thought that I would never be
There's people looking back at me
I keep having this dream, I'm at a party
There's people throwing drinks
And screaming,telling me that I don't belong
Lately life's been the same
I find this comfortable place
With all my friends
And then my friends start telling me
That I've always been wrong
And I'm so tired of being wrong
There was a time I could move
There was a time I could breathe
The crowded spaces filled with angry faces
It didn't once cross my mind
With paranoia on my heels
Will you love me still
When we awake and you find that the sanity is gone from my eyes?
(Yeah)
I got secrets from you, you've got secrets from me
Because you're so worried about what I'm gonna to think
Baby, I'm worried, too
But if love is a game, girl, then you're gonna win
I'll spend the rest of my life bringing victory in
If you want me to (yeah)
(Yeah)
Lyrics submitted by Thrilliam, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Paranoia In B Flat Major Lyrics as written by Scott Yancey Avett Robert William Crawford
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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These lyrics are just a little off ...
Anyway, I feel like it's basically about someone who suddenly finds himself being paranoid about everything in his life. FOR SOME REASON, he thinks people are constantly judging and hating him. He even thinks his friends are turning against him. He's in a relationship with someone, whom he truly loves, but he's afraid his paranoia is going to tear them apart. In the last part, he vows to defeat his paranoia so that their love will triumph.
I could be completely on the wrong track, but oh well. Great song! So damn good.
Wow, theres no comments to this song? One of the best avett brothers songs.
Hell yeah North Carolina!
Agreed. I love it!!! My brothers and I sing the entire album through sometimes...
My own feelings about this song are probably quite different from what it was meant to mean, but kick back to what I have experienced and felt myself.
In the first three parts I think he is addressing friends in general. Every time he gets to where he has friends and feels comfortable in a place something happens. People change, or he changes, or moves. He doesn't belong anymore.
In the last part I think he is talking about not ever completely knowing someone. Especially in the sense of a girlfriend.
This song almost always brings a slight tear to my eye along with a lot of memories, but I can't stop listening to it.
this song is perfect. it's almost disgustingly so.
well i mostly agree here with gimmeajeep and i love your name. i think this song is really really great and i like these brothers a lot a lot a lot. paranoia can destroya and i am in the thick of it all at the moment living in my own psychotic lather matter. my head is getting the best of me which is a very sad state of affairs since my head is void of any thing to speak of but i guess there must be sumthing in it if i am feeling paranoid and so that is a good thing. so now i have made myself happy by talking about this paranoid song and what it means to me becuz maybe i am not completely numb if i feel the sick sick sick feelings of paranoia and therefore my life is good. we can all screw up our lives by freaking oursleves out and by scaring the bajeezus out of other people and we don't even need to because we all do a good enough job of psyching ourownselves into oblivion. i need a horse tranquilizer. i don't want to wreck important relshionships with people i love a lot alot a lot by being paranoid. i think this compouter makes me alittle paranoid though because i think the oompa loompas are lsitening to me and my words get so misconstrued by all. i want everyone to know that i i think life is relly so strange and it is a conundrum and i am wondering and wandering and blaabering and blubbering and i think people are out to get me maybe but i know i am not out to get anyone at all. i just meant to love and expect nuthing in return and thatt is love and i had it in my heart for a person who i didn't mean to reck my frienship with. i think i was just paranoid. i think i can have love n frienship with my friend no matter what in my life. i think my person friend is in love with a churchy type figure and i want my freind to know that anything he/she does in his/her life whether with church people or non church goers or beasts or kids or nuns or midgets or clowns or unics what is a unic again? well that it is aaaaa okay by me. i have lots of love for my friend and support his/her choices in life. live yer life friend and you be tru to yourslef and know that you have a friend in me. truly truly truly even if we never never never see each other agaon. but i hope to see u someday. i think of you friend and i hope you are alright in your life.
boy I can really relate to this song. I'll just echo what givemeajeep said because that's exactly what I thought when I heard this song.
`The end of this song is very nuanced, and I will try to analyze it line by line.
"But if love is a game, girl, then you're gonna win"
I have a bunch of ideas about what this could mean.
This could mean that the girl is good at maintaining relationships, it could mean being with the singer is like winning the "game" of love, it could have a more sinister meaning that love is just a game and all she wants to do is win, perhaps through being a controlling partner. This last seems unlikely, since no other lines, nor the tone of the singer suggests animosity.
I don't think any of these are the case.
Piggybacking on Gimmeajeep's analysis, the next line might help to clarify this metaphor.
"I'll spend the rest of my life bringing victory in"
As Gimmeajeep said, this suggests a vow to put his state of paranoia behind him
to help this struggling relationship. "Bringing victory in" here means winning the "game" of love, or having a healthy relationship.
I find the last line very interesting.
"If you want me to"
This could refer to a previous line :
"Will you love me still When we awake and see that the sanity has gone from my eyes?"
The singer is making sure his lover still loves him despite his paranoia.
This poses an interesting problem: This line is him being paranoid about the effects of his paranoia! He needs constant reassurance that his lover still loves him. On top of this, he is being paranoid the line after he promises that he will stop bringing his paranoia between them. This could be a commentary on the difficulties of anxiety disorders and paranoia. Solving these problems is often difficult, and words are wind; it is easy to say you're gonna never be worried again, but without some form of treatment, it often just falls apart.
This song lyrics resonate with me I believe that it is about a man what suddenly realizes as he evolves, that he’s in a toxic relationship and when he tries to address issues within the relationship he is being told he’s crazy or paranoid. “When we awake and you find that the sanity is gone from my eyes”. They were living in 2 realities and he woke to realize that her sanity was his insanity and his insanity was her sanity. That makes for a toxic relationship. Last line, he is questioning the relationship saying that we can continue in this game but it’s a victory for you, not for me.