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 salty ring of night fatigue
When I get the sweats
From your listening
Primordial cymatics
Giving birth into reverse
Serated more ephemera
Undo her mother’s curse
So if you
Break me a mirror
Bring the broken pieces
Of a place that isn’t here
Don’t hide that guilty smile
Condolences
Won’t go away
The coins you bring
Left footprints
Blind thirst
And Braille liquor
My bed is stained
With fractures
Year after vitiated year
Four corners you are touching
They will liberate
My need
Bite marks
In the menagerie
With infadelic teeth
Is there something out there
Waiting to take hold
When that whore won’t answer
Who is in control?
And the names you planted
Drop the seeds into a hole
If you force me often
I might jump off the board
I am a deaf con of angora goats
Warning you all who pass this mote
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Is this the first time at my conventicle
You better not talk
If you came here for semantics
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Don’t ignore my presence
Hidden reads the scrolls
By the time I asked her
The earth fell off the tongue
What once was laughter
Corrosive I became
Where a scarlet bruise grows
Sprout the fault we own
I am a deaf con of angora goats
Warning you all who pass this mote
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Is this the first time at my conventicle
You better not talk
If you came here for semantics
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Don’t hide your guilty freight
Condolences won’t go away
You’ve got that guilty smile
That culminates in bedlam
Is the safety that you feel
From the witness
Who was kept quiet
In the wings
When I get the sweats
From your listening
Primordial cymatics
Giving birth into reverse
Serated more ephemera
Undo her mother’s curse
So if you
Break me a mirror
Bring the broken pieces
Of a place that isn’t here
Don’t hide that guilty smile
Condolences
Won’t go away
The coins you bring
Left footprints
Blind thirst
And Braille liquor
My bed is stained
With fractures
Year after vitiated year
Four corners you are touching
They will liberate
My need
Bite marks
In the menagerie
With infadelic teeth
Is there something out there
Waiting to take hold
When that whore won’t answer
Who is in control?
And the names you planted
Drop the seeds into a hole
If you force me often
I might jump off the board
I am a deaf con of angora goats
Warning you all who pass this mote
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Is this the first time at my conventicle
You better not talk
If you came here for semantics
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Don’t ignore my presence
Hidden reads the scrolls
By the time I asked her
The earth fell off the tongue
What once was laughter
Corrosive I became
Where a scarlet bruise grows
Sprout the fault we own
I am a deaf con of angora goats
Warning you all who pass this mote
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Is this the first time at my conventicle
You better not talk
If you came here for semantics
It’s only a matter of folding in time and space
Before I become your epidemic
Don’t hide your guilty freight
Condolences won’t go away
You’ve got that guilty smile
That culminates in bedlam
Is the safety that you feel
From the witness
Who was kept quiet
In the wings
Lyrics submitted by maslachak_
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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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The line should be "I am a DEF CON of angora goats". DEF CON is the acronym for the US Security system. The character is saying he is the security system for the goats. This is basically an extremely long winded, yet incredibly clever and well written way to say "I am a goat herder." Just thought I'd add my two cents.