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.
Take hold your fate in your hands
Your payment, in time, will demand
With fruit that’s forbidden, we eat then we die
and we can’t survive
When evil rears its head
it’s life and death
Like david sowed his seed
and his family bled
Consequence come likes a thief
So quick that it defies belief
Beware the curse it will pass to your seed
with dirty deeds
You tried to tempt your fate
turns out it’s your mistake
you took what wasn’t yours to take now
didn’t you?
didn’t you?
You only have one chance
Don’t take it light
You only have one chance
so get it right
Don’t take it light
So get it right
Your payment, in time, will demand
With fruit that’s forbidden, we eat then we die
and we can’t survive
When evil rears its head
it’s life and death
Like david sowed his seed
and his family bled
Consequence come likes a thief
So quick that it defies belief
Beware the curse it will pass to your seed
with dirty deeds
You tried to tempt your fate
turns out it’s your mistake
you took what wasn’t yours to take now
didn’t you?
didn’t you?
You only have one chance
Don’t take it light
You only have one chance
so get it right
Don’t take it light
So get it right
Lyrics submitted by LivingFlame
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This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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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.
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I think blondy269 covered the meaning as effectively as possible. This is one of several songs from P86 that serve to create a negative association with wrongdoing, others being Chimes, Sioux Lane Spirits, or Wrought on The Holiday's Eve. It's an idea that you really can't drill into your head too much, and the fact the P86 puts these ideas into their lyrics is something that makes them great. "The spectacle of fearsome acts" is a phrase used by Bill Cutting (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) in the movie Gangs of New York. This song, Two Glass Eyes and The Butcher may make reference to this character, as he was a butcher with a glass eye, as well as a dastardly fiend. He may be a reference point/character image for the destroyer archetype that is The Destroyer that P86 fights against lyrically in this album. If I'm lucky enough to run into Schwab again at the next P86 show I go to, I will ask him if he is indeed making this reference. We see the same theme of resisting evil in other P86 albums, too. You can't destroy evil; you can only keep fighting it. P86 lyrics are a big help in the battle for mankind's soul. Keep fighting, my brothers!