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 remember the days when we talked for hours
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We kissed the sky, expanded our minds, thought we could fly
We were dreamers and we'd never die
We were young punks but we showed potential
Was us against the world, we weren't sentimental
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ? take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
The winters were cold but we had your parents basement
This underground was for sinners and we embraced it
Magic pills, fairy tales, Syd Barrett's ghost
Oh, we'd all get on that spaceship
We measured our lives in coffee spoons
And those Friday nights quickly turned into Sunday afternoons
We weren't our money, our muscles or our regrets
We were having a mere life experience
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
I remember the days when we talked for hours
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We kissed the sky, expanded our minds, thought we could fly
We were dreamers and we'd never die
We were young punks but we showed potential
Was us against the world, we weren't sentimental
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ? take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
The winters were cold but we had your parents basement
This underground was for sinners and we embraced it
Magic pills, fairy tales, Syd Barrett's ghost
Oh, we'd all get on that spaceship
We measured our lives in coffee spoons
And those Friday nights quickly turned into Sunday afternoons
We weren't our money, our muscles or our regrets
We were having a mere life experience
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
I remember the days when we talked for hours
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
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fucking ace. full stop.