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.
An ancient business
A modern piece of glass work
Down on the corner that you walk each day in passing
The elderly sales clerk won't eye us with suspicion
The whole, immortal corporation's given its permission
A little stairway
A little peice of carpet
A pair of mirrors that
Are facing one another
Out in both directions
A thousand little Julias
That come together
In the middle of Manhattan
You waited since lunch
It all comes at once
Around the corner
The house that modern art built
I ask for modern art
To keep it out the closets
The people who might own it
The sins of pride and envy
And on the second floor
The Richard Serra Skate Park
You waited since lunch
It all comes at once
Sit on the park wall
Ask all the right questions
Why are the horses racing taxis in the winter?
Look up at the buildings imagine who might live there
Imagining your wolfords in a ball upon the sink there
You waited since lunch
It all comes at once
A modern piece of glass work
Down on the corner that you walk each day in passing
The elderly sales clerk won't eye us with suspicion
The whole, immortal corporation's given its permission
A little stairway
A little peice of carpet
A pair of mirrors that
Are facing one another
Out in both directions
A thousand little Julias
That come together
In the middle of Manhattan
You waited since lunch
It all comes at once
Around the corner
The house that modern art built
I ask for modern art
To keep it out the closets
The people who might own it
The sins of pride and envy
And on the second floor
The Richard Serra Skate Park
You waited since lunch
It all comes at once
Sit on the park wall
Ask all the right questions
Why are the horses racing taxis in the winter?
Look up at the buildings imagine who might live there
Imagining your wolfords in a ball upon the sink there
You waited since lunch
It all comes at once
Lyrics submitted by billjohn, edited by dodgerblue
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i hate to be "that dork with the lyrics corrections" but here's what i think:
first verse: an ancient business a model piece of glasswork down on the corner that you walk each day in passing the elderly sales clerk will eye us with suspicion the holy motor corporation giving its permission
last verse: sit on the park wall ask all the right questions while the horses race the taxis in the winter look up at the buildings imagine who might live there imagining your wolfords in a ball upon the sink there
richard serra is a modern sculptor who makes all these iron arcs and stuff; i guess they do look kind of like a skate park. i saw one of his installations at the museum of modern art ("the house that modern art built") about two or three years ago. wolfords are a brand of tights. i mean, he could have just said "imagining we're living together" or something, but instead he imagines her tights in the sink. SO. GREAT.