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.
Take, take all you need
And I'll compensate your greed
With broken hearts
Sell I'll sell your memories
For fifteen pounds per year
But just the good days
Say, It'll make you insane
And it's bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose and
You watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
Hope, I hope you've seen the light
'Cause no one really cares
They're just pretending
Sell, I'll sell your memories, for fifteen pounds per year
But you can keep the bad days
Say, it'll make you insane
And I'm bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
Say, it'll make you insane
And I'm bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
And I'll compensate your greed
With broken hearts
Sell I'll sell your memories
For fifteen pounds per year
But just the good days
Say, It'll make you insane
And it's bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose and
You watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
Hope, I hope you've seen the light
'Cause no one really cares
They're just pretending
Sell, I'll sell your memories, for fifteen pounds per year
But you can keep the bad days
Say, it'll make you insane
And I'm bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
Say, it'll make you insane
And I'm bending the truth
You're to blame
For all the life that you'll lose
And you watch this space
And I'm going all the way
And be my slave to the grave
I'm a priest God never paid
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Light Up The Sky
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Van Halen
Fast Car
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Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
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Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
As the song was originally titled Action Faust, it definitely relates to the Faust story, as you can see in the lyrics. The lines "Say it'll make you insane / and I'm bending the truth" address Faust's attitude of blaming everyone but himself for his situation, something which in the story he never gets over. In this, the Devil/Mephistopheles tells him "you're to blame / for all the life that you'll lose", because he was the one who agreed to it. Though perhaps the hidden clauses were in "the small print", that small print was always there; Faust could have considered the dangers more seriously had he not been clouded by his own greed.
However, the song is no longer called Action Faust. This makes me think that it's been deliberately changed to take the meaning away from the story of Faust and more into the realms of metaphor. I'd say it fits in with ideas about corporate bodies, especially the music industry; when people buy into these organisations and sign a contract, they're giving into the corporate power and selling out, so to speak. In this sense, one might say it's about how the world we live in forces us to make these deals with earthly, corporate devils, and we will all then claim ignorance of the small print when the truth of the deal hits us.