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 think about the worm that I've become,
Left blind from the brightness of your halo
No one shines like you do
My filthy mouth and broken words,
This small disease that leaves me crawling
Crawling to you
Crawl under ground for comfort,
Stay close to the deck for keep from falling
From falling
Sold my life to bring the rain, maybe to wash me clean
Sold my soul to stop the pain,
Hoping you'd set me free
All your pills, are you sane?
You never took it, lay it all on me
You can lay it all on me
I took every chance to lash my tongue,
You wear these scabs just like an angel
There's something about you
Whole rip of things I've done,
Seems like this disease is slowly spreading
Start running, what would you do?
I crawl under ground for comfort,
Stay out of my mind to keep from dying
From dying
Sold my life to bring the rain,
Maybe to wash me clean
Sold my soul to stop the pain,
Hoping you'd set me free
All your pills, are you sane?
You never took it, lay it all on me
You can lay it all on me
Could you forget that what I said?
And how I died inside my head
We're starting over, not pretending
That the best is dead
Under pain you feel you're old,
And times I should have known
Don't keep it inside, let it out and let it all on me
Sold my life to bring the rain,
Maybe to wash me clean
Sold my soul to stop the pain,
Hoping you'd set me free
All your pills, all the pain
You never took it, lay it all on me
You can lay it all on me
Left blind from the brightness of your halo
No one shines like you do
My filthy mouth and broken words,
This small disease that leaves me crawling
Crawling to you
Crawl under ground for comfort,
Stay close to the deck for keep from falling
From falling
Sold my life to bring the rain, maybe to wash me clean
Sold my soul to stop the pain,
Hoping you'd set me free
All your pills, are you sane?
You never took it, lay it all on me
You can lay it all on me
I took every chance to lash my tongue,
You wear these scabs just like an angel
There's something about you
Whole rip of things I've done,
Seems like this disease is slowly spreading
Start running, what would you do?
I crawl under ground for comfort,
Stay out of my mind to keep from dying
From dying
Sold my life to bring the rain,
Maybe to wash me clean
Sold my soul to stop the pain,
Hoping you'd set me free
All your pills, are you sane?
You never took it, lay it all on me
You can lay it all on me
Could you forget that what I said?
And how I died inside my head
We're starting over, not pretending
That the best is dead
Under pain you feel you're old,
And times I should have known
Don't keep it inside, let it out and let it all on me
Sold my life to bring the rain,
Maybe to wash me clean
Sold my soul to stop the pain,
Hoping you'd set me free
All your pills, all the pain
You never took it, lay it all on me
You can lay it all on me
Lyrics submitted by thegingerfatone, edited by o11000
Sold My Soul Lyrics as written by Jeph Howard Quinn Allman
Lyrics © THE BEST MUSIC COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
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,
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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.
Drug addiction.
first off one of the reasons why the used songs have alot to do with drugs is because bert is addicted, i don't know if he got clean but this song is definately a song about a struggle between drugs and a person, the chorus
Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free.
this is hating being dirty, he sold his soul to stop the pain hoping that heroin would set him free, the disease he is talking about is the witdrawl from heroin.
All your fear, All your shame, You know that you can lay it all on me. You can lay it all on me.
this and the verses seems to be about a person who hates him doing this thing he has to have. this song is awesome and i can totally relate
I agree! I can relate with so many of these songs, they have a totally different meaning to them that most people don't understand! <br /> <br /> And almost all the used's songs are about shooting up and his drug addiction because believe me its all that's ever on your mind!
crawl underground for cover
stay close to the dirt to keep from falling
Yeah. Sounds like "cover" instead of "comfort" to me as well.
Yeah. Sounds like "cover" instead of "comfort" to me as well.
"I think of the worm that I've become, Left blind from the brightness of your halo. No-one shines like you do."
I think here he is talking about how after him and his girlfriend broke up, he is becoming a bad person or a "worm". That she made him a better person and ever since the break up, it has affected him so greatly that he is headed down the wrong path.
"My filthy mouth and broken words. This small disease that leaves me crawling. Crawling to you."
I think he is talking about how he wants her back but knows its not good for him to want her back and compares it to a disease. Because he keeps "crawling" back to her.
"Crawl underground for comfort. Stay close to the dirt to keep me from falling, From falling."
He hides his feelings because he doesn't want to get hurt by wearing his emotions on his sleeve admitting the fact that he wants her back so badly. The dirt could be the things he has done since the break up which he feels guilty for. Like for example, a break up happens, people tend to go on the rebound and have one night stands.
"Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free."
You can see he wants her back because if he had that second chance with her, he'd feel free from his pain. He is at a point in life where the only think that makes him happy is this girl.It's obviously a pretty hard break up.
"All your fear, All your shame, You know that you can lay it all on me. You can lay it all on me."
He is saying that you can lay the mistakes all on him. All his mistakes and hers, he wants to accept all the blame. He wantrs to move on from the mistakes made in their relationship.
"I took every chance to lash my tongue, You wore the scabs just like an angel; There's something about you."
Through all the fighting and the break up, the girl was able to stand strong and not let it get to her. Although the break-up was hard, she still appears like an angel where nothing nothing can effect her.
"Horrible things that I have done. Seems this disease is slowly spreading. Start running, what would you do?"
Again, he regerets what he has done but feels like anyone else in his situation would have resulted into doing what he did after the break up. Wahtever these "bad things" are are for personal interpretation
"Crawl underground for comfort. Stay out of my mind to keep from dying From dying.
Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free.
All your fear, All your shame, You know that you can lay it all on me. You know that you can lay it all on me."
"Could you forget then what I said, And how I died inside my head. We're starting over, not pretending that the past is dead."
Here is he saying he wants to move on from the past and start over fresh with her. He knows she holds onto the past and he understands and thinks she should.
"And the pain you feel you owe, All the times I should have known, Don't keep it inside, let it out and lay it all on me."
He is saying she has all the right in the world to feel the pain and hate towards the situation. He is saying taht she needs to let it all out and stop keeping inside. Release the bottled up anger.So then they can move on from it all together.
"Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free.
All your fear, All the pain, You know that you can lay it all on me. You can lay it all on me. "
These are closer.
I think of the worm that I've become, Left blind from the brightness of your halo. No-one shines like you do.
My filthy mouth and broken words. This small disease that leaves me crawling. Crawling to you.
Crawl underground for comfort. Stay close to the dirt to keep me from falling, From falling.
Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free.
All your fear, All your shame, You know that you can lay it all on me. You can lay it all on me.
I took every chance to lash my tongue, You wore the scabs just like an angel; There's something about you.
Horrible things that I have done. Seems this disease is slowly spreading. Start running, what would you do?
Crawl underground for comfort. Stay out of my mind to keep from dying From dying.
Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free.
All your fear, All your shame, You know that you can lay it all on me. You know that you can lay it all on me.
Could you forget then what I said, And how I died inside my head. We're starting over, not pretending that the past is dead.
And the pain you feel you owe, All the times I should have known, Don't keep it inside, let it out and lay it all on me.
Sold my life to bring the rain, Maybe to wash me clean. Sold my soul to stop the pain, Hoping you'd set me free.
All your fear, All the pain, You know that you can lay it all on me. You can lay it all on me.
or depending on being saved by a wrong person in the past
I think that it could be about him feeling that he's done so much sinning that he could never be forgiven.
Good song
I like it a lot. I think this and The Best of Me are my favorites from Artwork. Is goooood.
why does everyone immediately assume every song from the used is about drugs. granted that a lot are but not all of them. i think its about him trying to get away from a girl that he thought would help him. why he's trying to get away, i don't know.
@scottabea drugs.