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.
And each chance i get to get close to you
The shadows come and the late afternoon makes
The warmth withdraw like a dive bell sinks
The air turns to octopus ink
I met her at the county fair
My first impressions cleaved in pairs
Hair that tumbled, eyes of steam
All nature seemed in harmony
The times you only feel one way
Are times that you remember most
But then you're wrong 'cause most those times
You really have been feeling both
I met her at the chestnut tree
And all despair abandoned me
Down by the armory we walked
And music was the words she talked
Where does all the good luck lie?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where those bright lodes glow
Go deeper in the mountain side
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that rock and dirt
Which way when the good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i
I hear a knock on my door
Someone's waiting outside
Waiting outside, what for?
My ride
And beneath moonless hills Chinese nocturnes
Breathe Cantonese through young Joe Byrne
Horsefly, shanghaied, stay home
And you won't ever be alone they lie
The engineer fortuity
Her tool box full with mercury
Lobs heart attacks from chandeliers
Sends rescuers with frozen beards
And other empty monologues
About mineshafts trimmed like synagogues
Man, she don't hate the ones she kills
But she don't love the mouths she fills
And if it's all supposed to mean something
It's nothing he's interested in
One thing Joe Byrne won't never know
Is you only get what you let go
He pitched his tent down Havilah
So he would never have to travel far
It don't matter Chinese or Afghan
All that he wants grows on dry land
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where the doomed roam free
With poppy seeds and armored hides
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that frozen dirt
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i hear an engine running
And i see a headlamp shine
And i feel my heart is sinking
And lord
Lord my ride
Lord my ride
Is waiting outside what for?
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
The shadows come and the late afternoon makes
The warmth withdraw like a dive bell sinks
The air turns to octopus ink
I met her at the county fair
My first impressions cleaved in pairs
Hair that tumbled, eyes of steam
All nature seemed in harmony
The times you only feel one way
Are times that you remember most
But then you're wrong 'cause most those times
You really have been feeling both
I met her at the chestnut tree
And all despair abandoned me
Down by the armory we walked
And music was the words she talked
Where does all the good luck lie?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where those bright lodes glow
Go deeper in the mountain side
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that rock and dirt
Which way when the good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i
I hear a knock on my door
Someone's waiting outside
Waiting outside, what for?
My ride
And beneath moonless hills Chinese nocturnes
Breathe Cantonese through young Joe Byrne
Horsefly, shanghaied, stay home
And you won't ever be alone they lie
The engineer fortuity
Her tool box full with mercury
Lobs heart attacks from chandeliers
Sends rescuers with frozen beards
And other empty monologues
About mineshafts trimmed like synagogues
Man, she don't hate the ones she kills
But she don't love the mouths she fills
And if it's all supposed to mean something
It's nothing he's interested in
One thing Joe Byrne won't never know
Is you only get what you let go
He pitched his tent down Havilah
So he would never have to travel far
It don't matter Chinese or Afghan
All that he wants grows on dry land
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go one, three, five, seven and nine
Show me where the doomed roam free
With poppy seeds and armored hides
Which way if my luck deserts?
Dig deeper in that frozen dirt
Which way when my good luck dies?
Go over under, side by side
And i hear an engine running
And i see a headlamp shine
And i feel my heart is sinking
And lord
Lord my ride
Lord my ride
Is waiting outside what for?
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
To be nailed to a door
Lyrics submitted by andrew88
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
about a relationship that is constantly uncertain as to where it's going. i can relate a lot. he describes his first encounters with her, when he fell in love with her, in a really nostalgic, longing way. since then, though, chances to get close to her haven't been so successful and he's left wondering "Which way does my good luck lie" - whether he'll have better luck in the future and how long he will have to wait until that happens - and "Which way if my luck deserts" - pretty straightforward really, he's anxious about whether the opportunity of establishing a more stable relationship with this girl will fizzle out entirely at any given point, and what he'll be left with if that happens ("Dig deeper in that frozen dirt" being a reference to sinking into depression). i'm guessing the joe byrne references are him using the story of the kelly gang lieutenant as a metaphor for relationship issues. the "I hear a knock on my door" / "To be nailed to a door" part is about expectation and disappointment respectively. brilliant.
I think the song involves a little more than just personal relationships. I think Liddiard is drawing on the album title here to make reference to modern Australia's mining boom and the social consequences of another 'gold rush'. Obviously, he's tying that into a relationship story and it can be read as a personal relationship or, in this reading, perhaps a transnational one. Perhaps Joe Byrne is a modern fly-in, fly-out miner digging coal/iron ore for the 'Cantonese', giving up lifestyle for cash. But...<br /> <br /> "Which way if my luck deserts?/Dig deeper in that rock and dirt/Which way when the good luck dies?"<br /> <br /> And maybe that's the folly of pitching your tent at 'Havilah', where working/living in the 'golden' sands of Australia's mining towns is really missing the point of life. <br /> <br /> "And if it's all supposed to mean something<br /> It's nothing he's interested in<br /> One thing Joe Byrne won't never know<br /> Is you only get what you let go<br /> <br /> He pitched his tent down Havilah<br /> So he would never have to travel far<br /> It don't matter Chinese or Afghan<br /> All that he wants grows on dry land"
"Perhaps Joe Byrne is a modern fly-in, fly-out miner..." Quite possibly, but it also refers to Joe Byrne -- the Kelly Gang member -- who known for speaking Cantonese and associated with the Chinese community. Like many of the rural poor, Byrne came from a social sector that sought to make a living by panning for gold. At the very least, the song references this and the rural poor in north-east Victoria in the time of the Kelly Gang, even as it uses this to tell a story on different levels.<br /> <br /> The lines "And I, I hear a knock on my door. Someone's waiting outside. Waiting outside, what for?" suggests the possiblity the song is about, or those lines at least are meant to evoke, Aaron Sherritt, who was a close friend of Byrne's and a supporter of the Kelly Gang. When the Kelly Gang found out he was receiving money as a police informer (though it is unclear whether he was deliberately misleading police or not) Byrne knocked on his door late at night and shot him dead.<br /> <br /> The song, at least, seems to refer to Byrne and possibly to Sherritt's killing, even if it also works of different levels and refers to relationships in general -- an quite possible in the context sof modern day miners and transnationals.
From E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. bartleby.com/81/12322.html
"Luck in odd numbers. A major chord consists of a fundamental or tonic, its major third, and its just fifth. According to the Pythagore’an system, “all nature is a harmony,” man is a full chord; and all beyond is Deity, so that nine represents deity. As the odd numbers are the fundamental notes of nature, the last being deity, it will be easy to see how they came to be considered the great or lucky numbers. In China, odd numbers belong to heaven, and v.v. (See DIAPASON, NUMBER.)“
“Good luck lies in odd numbers… They say, there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death.”—Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, v. 1.
“No doubt the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, play a far more important part than the even numbers. One is Deity, three the Trinity, five the chief division (see FIVE), seven is the sacred number, and nine is three times three, the great climacteric.“
Interesting use of the line "all nature seemed in harmony".
The second part of the song about Joe Byrne reference not only that he knew the Chinese miners and spoke Cantonese, he smoked opium with them too.
"It don't matter Chinese or Afghan All that he wants grows on dry land"
and
"Show me where the doomed roam free With poppy seeds and armored hides"
In fact, much of the song musically and (in the second half) lyrically evokes the imagery of a mine in a dreamlike opium haze.