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.
Gavel hits the stone
Another day in the cell
I got stripped of my car
I'm in prisoner's orange
Should have got possession
Eighty times over
I should have been dead
Like the Poe or the Buk
No crime was committed
Just a victim of commerce, and
O.C. Poverty
It's no fallacy
Seems like I've been in and out
More times than I can count
Sitting in O.C.J.
Get out tomorrow on own recog
I got no one to blame but me
Chasing the dragon
Will get you all dead or in here
Been 2 x 3 years
Since the road to ruin
Understand I hid
Just to get my dome movin'
Swam against a tide of origami
Smoking men
Boilermakers
The scientist said
Things would be different now;
Still
I'm convulsing in ER
With my head
And my chin strapped down
Contemplating my...
Unfinished business
"Why'd you walk away?"
Who could ever believe this
Unfinished business
Dealing with the lie
Straight rose to the surface
Figured it all lies
The biggest human tragedy
Disorientation = creation
Never!
It's the hippie's lifestyle!
COURTESY OF
The CIA
The FBI
The FDA
Want to suck
On the seed of the man
Go right ahead
I've done my time
No interest in that thread
We all want what we don't have
Never seem to like what we do
A thread
No different
Than a super bowl commercial
It made me go away
It's what made me
Hurt
Rob
Steal
Betray
I'm done being that tumor
I'm done being that tumor
No way
No way
"Take this pill
And the voices will go away,
It might make you a robot
But isn't everybody else?"
Fighting to get to my
Unfinished business
Addressing all the disses
With the voice of a Beckmann
Unfinished business
Adrenalized by nature
Time has come to rescind this
Unfinished business
"Why'd you walk away?"
Who could ever believe this
Unfinished business
Dealing with the lie
Straight rose to the surface
Unfinished business
Addressing all the disses
With the voice of a Beckmann
Unfinished business
Adrenalized by nature
Time has come to rescind this
Another day in the cell
I got stripped of my car
I'm in prisoner's orange
Should have got possession
Eighty times over
I should have been dead
Like the Poe or the Buk
No crime was committed
Just a victim of commerce, and
O.C. Poverty
It's no fallacy
Seems like I've been in and out
More times than I can count
Sitting in O.C.J.
Get out tomorrow on own recog
I got no one to blame but me
Chasing the dragon
Will get you all dead or in here
Been 2 x 3 years
Since the road to ruin
Understand I hid
Just to get my dome movin'
Swam against a tide of origami
Smoking men
Boilermakers
The scientist said
Things would be different now;
Still
I'm convulsing in ER
With my head
And my chin strapped down
Contemplating my...
Unfinished business
"Why'd you walk away?"
Who could ever believe this
Unfinished business
Dealing with the lie
Straight rose to the surface
Figured it all lies
The biggest human tragedy
Disorientation = creation
Never!
It's the hippie's lifestyle!
COURTESY OF
The CIA
The FBI
The FDA
Want to suck
On the seed of the man
Go right ahead
I've done my time
No interest in that thread
We all want what we don't have
Never seem to like what we do
A thread
No different
Than a super bowl commercial
It made me go away
It's what made me
Hurt
Rob
Steal
Betray
I'm done being that tumor
I'm done being that tumor
No way
No way
"Take this pill
And the voices will go away,
It might make you a robot
But isn't everybody else?"
Fighting to get to my
Unfinished business
Addressing all the disses
With the voice of a Beckmann
Unfinished business
Adrenalized by nature
Time has come to rescind this
Unfinished business
"Why'd you walk away?"
Who could ever believe this
Unfinished business
Dealing with the lie
Straight rose to the surface
Unfinished business
Addressing all the disses
With the voice of a Beckmann
Unfinished business
Adrenalized by nature
Time has come to rescind this
Lyrics submitted by gothic_hobbit
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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.
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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Plastic Bag
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Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.