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.
A day's light told me of my son's fate
The sun showed the way, grim and severe
Pulled under the raging waters, my child
Sank in the drowning currents, my son
My strength is not enough, my powers failed me
I need the heavens help, I ask for thunder's force
I plead for you oh lightning, forge an iron tool
A magic rake of dragging, a river for my son
God of fire bring your light
Forger of sun help me now
Guardian of the shore will sleep in your warmth
Lull the folk of cold water
Banish the serpents of the dark
To the river let me go and fetch my son away
A rake made of iron from the Gods of skies
The spirit of bright days sent me the sun
Cold troops of Tuoni can not stand in my way
Untouched I shall walk by the river of the night
My child
My son
The sun showed the way, grim and severe
Pulled under the raging waters, my child
Sank in the drowning currents, my son
My strength is not enough, my powers failed me
I need the heavens help, I ask for thunder's force
I plead for you oh lightning, forge an iron tool
A magic rake of dragging, a river for my son
God of fire bring your light
Forger of sun help me now
Guardian of the shore will sleep in your warmth
Lull the folk of cold water
Banish the serpents of the dark
To the river let me go and fetch my son away
A rake made of iron from the Gods of skies
The spirit of bright days sent me the sun
Cold troops of Tuoni can not stand in my way
Untouched I shall walk by the river of the night
My child
My son
Lyrics submitted by Esgaroth
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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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.
Since the entire album Silent Waters is about Lemminkäinens struggles, this song is probably about when his mother finds him dead by the river after he failed at killing the swan and got punished. He was torn into pieces, but his mother stitched him up with the wax of a bee. This is when his mother grieves.
No, he's right. Amorphis's last four albums (Eclipse through Beginning Of Time) are each about a different character from the Kalevala (an epic poem based on Finnish folklore). And yes, one of them does get cut to pieces, then stitched back up and revived by his mother. And that's not even the weirdest part.
Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?
To me, it is about the fight between good and evil. By beginning with his son, I think that it shows that something tragic has to happen to you personally, to cause you to join the good side.