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.
Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
We still don't understand thunder and lightning
Flashback to when we didn't fund the dam
Didn't fund the damn levee
No wonder man
Now our whole damn cities torn us under man
Underwater but we still don't understand
We see hurricane spills overrun the land
Through gaps you couldn't fill with a hundred tons of sand
No we still don't understand
We've seen planes in the windows of buildings
Crumbled in
We've seen flames sending chills through London
And we've sent planes to kill them
And some of them are children
But still we crumble under buildin'
Underfunded but we still don't understand
Under God but we kill like the son of Sam
But if you feel like I feel about the son of man
We will overcome
Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
I said put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
Except by a freedom fighter bleeding on the cross for you
We shall not be moved
Except by a system that's rotting through
Neglecting the victims and ordering the cops to shoot
High treason now we need to prosecute
So stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
And we wont fight a war over fossil fuel
Times like this that you want to plot a coup
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
Unless we are taking a route we have not pursued
So if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
I said put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up
Now shake, shake a Polaroid dream
Nightmare negatives develop on the screen
We sit back and wait on the government team
Criticize they but who the f**k are we
The people want peace
But the leaders want war
Neighbors don't speak peak through the front door
House representatives preach stay the course
Its time for a leap of faith
Once more
Put your hands up high if you haven't imagined
Hope that the pen strokes higher than the cannon
Balls to the wall nose to the grindstone
My interrogation techniques leave ya mind blown
Places your bets lets peak to the enemy
Don't let them pretend that we seek blood
And whose we anyway kimosabai
Mighty warlord want to be street thug
A threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified
Blow for blow never settles the score
Word for word its time to be clarified
We the people did not want war!
So stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
Unless we are taking a route we have not pursued
So if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
I said put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
We still don't understand thunder and lightning
Flashback to when we didn't fund the dam
Didn't fund the damn levee
No wonder man
Now our whole damn cities torn us under man
Underwater but we still don't understand
We see hurricane spills overrun the land
Through gaps you couldn't fill with a hundred tons of sand
No we still don't understand
We've seen planes in the windows of buildings
Crumbled in
We've seen flames sending chills through London
And we've sent planes to kill them
And some of them are children
But still we crumble under buildin'
Underfunded but we still don't understand
Under God but we kill like the son of Sam
But if you feel like I feel about the son of man
We will overcome
Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
I said put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
Except by a freedom fighter bleeding on the cross for you
We shall not be moved
Except by a system that's rotting through
Neglecting the victims and ordering the cops to shoot
High treason now we need to prosecute
So stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
And we wont fight a war over fossil fuel
Times like this that you want to plot a coup
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
Unless we are taking a route we have not pursued
So if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
I said put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up
Now shake, shake a Polaroid dream
Nightmare negatives develop on the screen
We sit back and wait on the government team
Criticize they but who the f**k are we
The people want peace
But the leaders want war
Neighbors don't speak peak through the front door
House representatives preach stay the course
Its time for a leap of faith
Once more
Put your hands up high if you haven't imagined
Hope that the pen strokes higher than the cannon
Balls to the wall nose to the grindstone
My interrogation techniques leave ya mind blown
Places your bets lets peak to the enemy
Don't let them pretend that we seek blood
And whose we anyway kimosabai
Mighty warlord want to be street thug
A threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified
Blow for blow never settles the score
Word for word its time to be clarified
We the people did not want war!
So stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
Except by a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give than you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up (Stand up)
We shall not be moved
Unless we are taking a route we have not pursued
So if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
I said put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
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.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
haha the US government has practically admitted that it went into Iraq cos of fossil fuels under the pretense of taking out a fascist since it had nothing to do with 9/11. Fair enough they did take Mr. Hussein out of power but they screwed an awful lot up. Bush just wanted to finish off the work of his father cos he's a sheep like all British politicians who decided he knew what he was doing.