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.
By the light of the LED display of the VCR recorder
You kiss my neck, I whisper in your ear: this is my downfall
As you squint and you grimace, we both know your heart's not in it
By the glow of a thousand fireflys in a travelodge en-suite
They think the future's bright as halogen, we know it's pretty bleak
And I am trying to be sexy, biting at the air that falls in front of me
Your telegrams are more and more less detailed by the day
And all the characters are strangers and the pubs have different names
I tell a joke, I'd like to meet them but they loathe me and I hate them back
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, fondness makes the absence longer
Length loses my interest, I'm a realist, I'm insatiable
Swapped counting days until I fly, with hours before your reply
You said he got his teeth fixed
I'm gonna break them
I've got a heart on fire
He said he's got his sights set
On getting to you
I've got fist on fire
And you feel terrified at the thought of being left behind
Of losing everybody, the necessity of dying
Oh we kid ourselves there's future in the fucking
But there is no fucking future
I'm just practising my accents, picking at old sutures
I taught myself the only way to vaguely get along in love
Is to like the other slightly less than you get in return
I keep feeling like I'm being undercut
Charlotte says it's more constructive than the one in Canada
When you got drunk, ate loads of crisps
And threw up by a football pitch
I know it is
And really that's what worries me
I feel like I should hurt
You said he's got his teeth fixed
I'm gonna break them
I've got a heart on fire
He said he's got his sights set
I'm getting to you
I've got fist on fire
I cannot emphasise enough that my body
Is a badly designed, poorly put together vessel
Harbouring these diminishing, so called vital organs
Hope my heart goes first
I hope my heart hoes first
We are beautiful
We are doomed
You kiss my neck, I whisper in your ear: this is my downfall
As you squint and you grimace, we both know your heart's not in it
By the glow of a thousand fireflys in a travelodge en-suite
They think the future's bright as halogen, we know it's pretty bleak
And I am trying to be sexy, biting at the air that falls in front of me
Your telegrams are more and more less detailed by the day
And all the characters are strangers and the pubs have different names
I tell a joke, I'd like to meet them but they loathe me and I hate them back
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, fondness makes the absence longer
Length loses my interest, I'm a realist, I'm insatiable
Swapped counting days until I fly, with hours before your reply
You said he got his teeth fixed
I'm gonna break them
I've got a heart on fire
He said he's got his sights set
On getting to you
I've got fist on fire
And you feel terrified at the thought of being left behind
Of losing everybody, the necessity of dying
Oh we kid ourselves there's future in the fucking
But there is no fucking future
I'm just practising my accents, picking at old sutures
I taught myself the only way to vaguely get along in love
Is to like the other slightly less than you get in return
I keep feeling like I'm being undercut
Charlotte says it's more constructive than the one in Canada
When you got drunk, ate loads of crisps
And threw up by a football pitch
I know it is
And really that's what worries me
I feel like I should hurt
You said he's got his teeth fixed
I'm gonna break them
I've got a heart on fire
He said he's got his sights set
I'm getting to you
I've got fist on fire
I cannot emphasise enough that my body
Is a badly designed, poorly put together vessel
Harbouring these diminishing, so called vital organs
Hope my heart goes first
I hope my heart hoes first
We are beautiful
We are doomed
Lyrics submitted by shrodes, edited by Angelireland
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed Lyrics as written by Oliver Briggs Aleksandra Berditchevskaia
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Here's Gareth talking about the song in an interview..
TNG: Tell me more about the relationship, it really comes through over the course of “We are Beautiful…” Who is this person that makes you so miserable?
GC: It was a relationship I never should have gotten into in the first place. I don’t want to be harsh, they’re a lovely person. I have no real hard feelings toward them despite what the record might suggest. They showed an interest in me, I was incredibly flattered. They were very attractive and intelligent and good fun. And then as a result, because I’m pretty emotionally retarded, I entered quickly and it got reasonably intense a lot quicker than any sensible human would let a relationship get. Then I went to America for two months and the way it went when I was away was barely worth existing.
I’m just thinking about how honest I should be –I want to be honest in what I do–basically there was another person I should have gone out with, but if I had gone out with them would have been very serious. The girl I went out with, she should have been with another guy. I don’t know why we were together, when I discuss it it really does seem pathetic. But that’s the gist of it, the record was just me complaining about her. She’s a little younger than me, and despite her being really intelligent it shows at times. I have to reiterate she’s a lovely and nice person, but not a good girlfriend for me.
TNG: Do you think she recognized herself in your songs? span>
GC: Yeah, which is why I don’t understand why she hasn’t spoken to me about it. They they were written before we broke up, partly because I knew we had to break up. I knew that I was a pussy and I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I knew that by writing these songs it would have to end before the record was released. It was just inevitable. If she has heard it she must appreciate that there’s no malicious intent.