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 used to laugh it off
I used to look the other way
I used to save them troubles for another day
I kept my fingers crossed
I used to never take the blame
I'd pull a sunshine story in the pouring rain
The more I had to change, I just stayed the same
The same, the same, I stayed the same
You don't know what you've got, 'til you're missing it a lot
I had to go throw it away
I was wrong from the start
From the bottom of my heart, I apologize
What I did to you was hurtful
What I'm going through is hurtful
I used to buy my time
I used to beat around the bush
I'd rather give my ego another push
I used to be a fool
It was a foolish game I played
And it's a fool's faith, common mistakes I made
Once I had it right, it was all too late
Too late, too late, too little too late
You don't know what you've got, 'til you're missing it a lot
I had to go throw it away
I was wrong from the start
From the bottom of my heart, I apologize
What I did to you was hurtful
What I'm going through is hurtful
It is hurtful, it's hurtful
What I did to you
What I did to you
What I did to you was hurtful
What I'm going through is hurtful
I was wrong from the start
From the bottom of my heart, I apologize
What I did to you was hurtful
And what I'm going through is hurtful
I used to look the other way
I used to save them troubles for another day
I kept my fingers crossed
I used to never take the blame
I'd pull a sunshine story in the pouring rain
The more I had to change, I just stayed the same
The same, the same, I stayed the same
You don't know what you've got, 'til you're missing it a lot
I had to go throw it away
I was wrong from the start
From the bottom of my heart, I apologize
What I did to you was hurtful
What I'm going through is hurtful
I used to buy my time
I used to beat around the bush
I'd rather give my ego another push
I used to be a fool
It was a foolish game I played
And it's a fool's faith, common mistakes I made
Once I had it right, it was all too late
Too late, too late, too little too late
You don't know what you've got, 'til you're missing it a lot
I had to go throw it away
I was wrong from the start
From the bottom of my heart, I apologize
What I did to you was hurtful
What I'm going through is hurtful
It is hurtful, it's hurtful
What I did to you
What I did to you
What I did to you was hurtful
What I'm going through is hurtful
I was wrong from the start
From the bottom of my heart, I apologize
What I did to you was hurtful
And what I'm going through is hurtful
Lyrics submitted by onthefinishline, edited by piecexo
Hurtful [Starsmith Radio Edit; Edit] Lyrics as written by Gustav Jonsson Erik Hassle
Lyrics © CTM Outlander Music LC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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Great version of a great song,
its about losing love and then knowing about what you lose after you lost it. blaming someone for everything that is going wrong but when its gone realizing that it was your fault.
this song is amazing! reminds me a lot of craig david/daniel bedingfield. currently on repeat!
I like this song because it's catchy and has a good beat.
That being said, the line "You don't know what you've got, 'til you're missing it a lot" is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Lyrics don't get much worse than that...
really liking this :) kinda reminds me of the script, particularly the line before the chorus "the same, the same, i stayed the same" i agree with kwisc about the lyrics but can't let that ruin a good song :)
love this song, discovered it through itunes single of the week. and i have to agree with Claudia-Natalie, i thought of the script immediately when i heard this song!
Erik said that he wrote this song when he went off to music college to pursue his music and he had to leave a lot of his friends and family back home and he always felt bad about losing connection with them and inadvertently ignoring them while he was away. He wrote this song trying to say how bad he felt about it and he knew how "hurtful" it was for those people he kind of, for lack of better words, left behind.
Correction for above...He wrote this after he got out of college and started writing songs and realized how much he learned with the guys he was writing songs with that he kind of cut out people from before to pursue his music and then consequently he missed out on a lot of things with his friends so he wrote this song about it.
Corrected lyrics:
I used to bide my time I used to beat around the bush I'd rather give my ego another push
I used to be a fool It was a foolish game I played And it's a fool's fate counting mistakes I made
Love the song, especially the Penguin Prison remix.