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.
Liquid is in your throat
For hopeless delight
After all you fell in love with death
Life has aborted
All you've had and all you became
The night is calling, you pray forth
A barren waste is your land
Crops they were sown to die
This skin is a mirror
The eyes hover with ignorance
Hell throb from your lips
Sucked in and safe from the world of sleep
All years caring for a liar
The barren drift road is winding higher
You're a moth too close to the fire
You are stuck in a beautiful future
Changing and waiting and seeking the truth of it all
Fleeting in sorrow
Pushing your spirit away
Seeking the weakness of dislike
Whispered from the heart
To be, we're all in the mourning
To despair
[?]
Cries out: "The restless will also... die."
Resurrection covered with death
Drawing the life under one
A fact tied to the earth
The soul's a victim, a follower
Oh, mother!
[Incoherent growling]
For us to see
The blink of an eye
And the pride of a mother
Drawn close in a mother's son
And the love from a father
Was used by a father's son
Over warrior's token
Misspoken lives on
The language unimportant
So fair and so just
All the land is taken
For hopeless delight
After all you fell in love with death
Life has aborted
All you've had and all you became
The night is calling, you pray forth
A barren waste is your land
Crops they were sown to die
This skin is a mirror
The eyes hover with ignorance
Hell throb from your lips
Sucked in and safe from the world of sleep
All years caring for a liar
The barren drift road is winding higher
You're a moth too close to the fire
You are stuck in a beautiful future
Changing and waiting and seeking the truth of it all
Fleeting in sorrow
Pushing your spirit away
Seeking the weakness of dislike
Whispered from the heart
To be, we're all in the mourning
To despair
[?]
Cries out: "The restless will also... die."
Resurrection covered with death
Drawing the life under one
A fact tied to the earth
The soul's a victim, a follower
Oh, mother!
[Incoherent growling]
For us to see
The blink of an eye
And the pride of a mother
Drawn close in a mother's son
And the love from a father
Was used by a father's son
Over warrior's token
Misspoken lives on
The language unimportant
So fair and so just
All the land is taken
Lyrics submitted by bigkajamma, edited by TatorODix
The Lotus Eater Lyrics as written by Mikael Lars Akerfeldt
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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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I interpreted it as, regarding that it IS a concept album, and Mikael said that it is personal, i believe the whole album is about Ã…kerfeldt's life. In Coil he describes how he "wasted" years on a woman. The line "All those years caring for a liar" fits in with that. I think that, like justinshorb said, it is about consuming (or wanting to consume) something to forget the woes in life, or perhaps its just a metaphor, and hes really just doing something to get his mind off things. Anyway hes probably very depressed and the lines "O brother, you are a killer and you target yourself" even suggests suicide-thoughts.
The last lines (just a theory now)"Overheard us talking in a smoke of lost hope" kind of confirms that (do you smoke lotus flowers? xD).
Fascinating. Wasting years on a woman? Ah, no woman is worth it. They're all trouble, if you ask me. Kick the bitch to the curb and have a blunt and a Bud! That's what I'd do!
Good band! As a dude, it's one of my favorites even though it's not death metal!
Wait so your a vegan into death metal?Or and woman hater too?
Women suck...especially those older broads with bad attitudes who think they know everthing when all they really know is shit. They be obnoxious bitches. Death metal rocks! And so do doobies.
Not all suckin' is bad