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.
When just a boy young Sammy loved to build those model airplanes
He was sticking things together while his friends were sniffing glue
The tiny little decals with the stars and stripes and eagles
Made him proud and made him loyal t the red, the white, and blue
The years went by and Sammy's hobby turned into his future
Making decals, signs and stickers, all occasions, COD
No Smoking, Use The Other Door, American Express Cards
Were the biggest selling signs he has at Sammy's Signery
Looking at his books one day though Sam grew apprehensive
He hadn't thought of planning obsolescence in his signs
So when stickers didn't wear out and production grew expensive
Sam was standing on the Unemployment Line
But the man had grown accustomed to the finer things in life, though
And unemployment checks just didn't seem quite fair
So Sam took off for Holland with his signs because he heard
That they had many empty windows over there
He settled into Amsterdam, he scoured the city streets
Counting billboards, riding buses, taking trains
But he was sitting in a bar when night when Sammy got his answer
As he stared into his beer and wracked his brains
He said "I've got it, all this time I had it right here in my hands
I'll be given more than I could ever earn"
And so he kidnapped Freddie Heineken, twelve million was the ransom
And the note said "No Deposit, No Return"
The CIA got wind of Sam's extraordinary dealings
So they sent a mole to Holland to negotiate the hands
The White House feared the incident would injure global feelings
After Sam relayed a list of his demands
He said "For all these actions I must have a Presidential Pardon
Safe transport and asylum in the Bronx
And I demand that money from the military budget
Be turned over into jobs or Freddie conks"
So the Senate and the House of Reps agreed to Sammy's wishes
And they passed a bill to get the jobs and cash
Establishing an agency to beautify the slums
By putting decals over windows that were smashed
So when you're driving in your car through urban blighted ghettos
And you notice curtains, lamps and scenery
You can thank your politicians for the image of renewal
But it's only Sammy's decals that you'll see
He was sticking things together while his friends were sniffing glue
The tiny little decals with the stars and stripes and eagles
Made him proud and made him loyal t the red, the white, and blue
The years went by and Sammy's hobby turned into his future
Making decals, signs and stickers, all occasions, COD
No Smoking, Use The Other Door, American Express Cards
Were the biggest selling signs he has at Sammy's Signery
Looking at his books one day though Sam grew apprehensive
He hadn't thought of planning obsolescence in his signs
So when stickers didn't wear out and production grew expensive
Sam was standing on the Unemployment Line
But the man had grown accustomed to the finer things in life, though
And unemployment checks just didn't seem quite fair
So Sam took off for Holland with his signs because he heard
That they had many empty windows over there
He settled into Amsterdam, he scoured the city streets
Counting billboards, riding buses, taking trains
But he was sitting in a bar when night when Sammy got his answer
As he stared into his beer and wracked his brains
He said "I've got it, all this time I had it right here in my hands
I'll be given more than I could ever earn"
And so he kidnapped Freddie Heineken, twelve million was the ransom
And the note said "No Deposit, No Return"
The CIA got wind of Sam's extraordinary dealings
So they sent a mole to Holland to negotiate the hands
The White House feared the incident would injure global feelings
After Sam relayed a list of his demands
He said "For all these actions I must have a Presidential Pardon
Safe transport and asylum in the Bronx
And I demand that money from the military budget
Be turned over into jobs or Freddie conks"
So the Senate and the House of Reps agreed to Sammy's wishes
And they passed a bill to get the jobs and cash
Establishing an agency to beautify the slums
By putting decals over windows that were smashed
So when you're driving in your car through urban blighted ghettos
And you notice curtains, lamps and scenery
You can thank your politicians for the image of renewal
But it's only Sammy's decals that you'll see
Lyrics submitted by bananahero
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
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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.