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.
I wanna fuck you like a foreign film
And there's no subtitles to get you through this
And I'm a country you don't ever ever ever ever ever
Want to visit again
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
Cut, cut, cut
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you in line
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you in line
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut, cut
I'm a strip, strip, strip, and
I flicker, flick, flick, flick
A flicker of celluloid
And there's holes, holes, holes
In my everything
I'm a strip, strip, strip, and
I flicker, flick, flick, flick
A flicker of celluloid
And there's holes, holes, holes
In my everything
You're just what I projected
Just what I projected
It's just what I projected
Just want to project it
Come in, come in, come in,
Come in, come in, come in, come inside
There's so much, much, much more skin to break
I haven't even taken off my gloves,
There's so much, much, much more skin to break
I haven't even taken off my gloves
I feel a little sorry baby,
I feel a little sorry baby,
I hear the afterlife is poorly scored
I feel a little sorry baby,
I feel a little sorry baby,
I hear the afterlife is poorly scored
You're lucky you don't have to wake up
Sick, sick, sick, sick
I'm sick of immortality,
I'm sick of immortality
I'm sick of immortality
I was only acting, baby
Only acting, baby
You were only acting, baby
Overacting, baby
Don't confuse it with love
Don't confuse it with love
Don't confuse it with love
Don't confuse it with love
Everytime I kill you I'm really just killing myself
Everytime I kill you I'm really just killing myself
Everytime I kill you I'm really just killing myself
Don't flatter yourself, don't flatter yourself
This is business not pleasure, baby
This is business not pleasure, baby
This business of pleasure, baby
Business not pleasure, baby
This is business
This is business
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you, standing in line
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you, standing in line
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
And there's no subtitles to get you through this
And I'm a country you don't ever ever ever ever ever
Want to visit again
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
Cut, cut, cut
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you in line
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you in line
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut, cut
I'm a strip, strip, strip, and
I flicker, flick, flick, flick
A flicker of celluloid
And there's holes, holes, holes
In my everything
I'm a strip, strip, strip, and
I flicker, flick, flick, flick
A flicker of celluloid
And there's holes, holes, holes
In my everything
You're just what I projected
Just what I projected
It's just what I projected
Just want to project it
Come in, come in, come in,
Come in, come in, come in, come inside
There's so much, much, much more skin to break
I haven't even taken off my gloves,
There's so much, much, much more skin to break
I haven't even taken off my gloves
I feel a little sorry baby,
I feel a little sorry baby,
I hear the afterlife is poorly scored
I feel a little sorry baby,
I feel a little sorry baby,
I hear the afterlife is poorly scored
You're lucky you don't have to wake up
Sick, sick, sick, sick
I'm sick of immortality,
I'm sick of immortality
I'm sick of immortality
I was only acting, baby
Only acting, baby
You were only acting, baby
Overacting, baby
Don't confuse it with love
Don't confuse it with love
Don't confuse it with love
Don't confuse it with love
Everytime I kill you I'm really just killing myself
Everytime I kill you I'm really just killing myself
Everytime I kill you I'm really just killing myself
Don't flatter yourself, don't flatter yourself
This is business not pleasure, baby
This is business not pleasure, baby
This business of pleasure, baby
Business not pleasure, baby
This is business
This is business
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you, standing in line
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you, standing in line
Line up,
Roll camera,
You pretend
I'll pretend
And cut, cut, cut
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
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“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.
This song is about when Evan Rachel Wood dumped him on christmas day '08. Afterwards, he called her 158 times in a row, and after each cut, he cut hisself on his arms and face, to show her how much she hurt him, physically. Before I read this, I didn't really like this song. Afterwards it made much more since to me. He means he really wants to kill her for it,
google it.
@Essica319 The "cut, cut, cut" parts, I just realized today (almost 4 years after listening this album for the first time), being a pun related to self-harm and cinematographic terminology; I don't know if it's that obvious for everyone else, but sometimes I'm fuckin' slow to understand some things...